Varaha Purana 44.18: Adhyaya 44, Shloka 18

The Vaiśākha Bright-Twelfth Observance: Worship of Hari as Jāmadagnya and Its Fruits

Pūrva Bhāga · Pr̥thivī-Uddhāra Dialogue (Didactic Narrative on Merit and Afterlife)

Devanagari script

इह जन्मनि किं चित्रं परलोके शृणुष्व मे । कल्पमेकं ब्रह्मलोके वसित्वाऽप्सरसां गणैः ॥ ४४.१८ ॥

Recitation with translationVaraha Purana 44.18

Transliteration

iha janmani kiṁ citraṁ paraloke śṛṇuṣva me | kalpam ekaṁ brahmaloke vasitvā ’psarasāṁ gaṇaiḥ || 44.18 ||

ITRANS transliteration

Translation

ชีวิตนี้มีสิ่งใดน่าอัศจรรย์เล่า? จงฟังเราว่าด้วยปรโลก: เมื่อได้พำนักในพรหมโลกตลอดหนึ่งกัลปะแล้ว ย่อมอยู่ร่วมกับหมู่อัปสรา.

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Word by Word

• इह: here
• Type: Indeclinable
• Form: देशवाचक-अव्यय (adverb of place)
• Role: अधिकरण (Adverbial locus)
• Root: इह (अव्यय)

• जन्मनि: in (this) birth
• Type: Noun
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, सप्तमी (7), एकवचन
• Role: अधिकरण (Adhikaraṇa/Locus)
• Root: जन्मन् (प्रातिपदिक)

• किम्: what?
• Type: Noun
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा/द्वितीया (1/2), एकवचन; प्रश्नवाचक सर्वनाम
• Role: प्रश्न (Interrogative)
• Root: किम् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)

• चित्रम्: wonder, marvel
• Type: Noun
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा/द्वितीया (1/2), एकवचन; भाव/विशेष्य (as ‘wonder’)
• Role: कर्ता/विशेष्य (Predicate noun)
• Root: चित्र (प्रातिपदिक)

• परलोके: in the next world
• Type: Noun
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, सप्तमी (7), एकवचन; समासः तत्पुरुष (परः लोकः)
• Role: अधिकरण (Adhikaraṇa/Locus)
• Root: परलोक (प्रातिपदिक: पर + लोक)

• शृणुष्व: listen
• Type: Verb
• Form: लोट् (आज्ञार्थ), मध्यमपुरुष, एकवचन, परस्मैपद; आत्मनेपद-रूप ‘शृणुष्व’ (imperative)
• Role: क्रिया (Verb)
• Root: श्रु (धातु)

• मे: to me / my
• Type: Noun
• Form: षष्ठी (6) एकवचन (enclitic); ‘of me / my’
• Role: सम्बन्ध (Genitive relation)
• Root: अस्मद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)

• कल्पम्: for an aeon
• Type: Noun
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, द्वितीया (2), एकवचन; कालपरिमाण (object of ‘having dwelt’)
• Role: कर्म (Karma/Object)
• Root: कल्प (प्रातिपदिक)

• एकम्: one
• Type: Adjective
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, द्वितीया (2), एकवचन; विशेषण
• Role: विशेषण (Adjectival modifier)
• Root: एक (प्रातिपदिक)

• ब्रह्मलोके: in Brahmaloka
• Type: Noun
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, सप्तमी (7), एकवचन; समासः तत्पुरुष (ब्रह्मणः लोकः)
• Role: अधिकरण (Adhikaraṇa/Locus)
• Root: ब्रह्मलोक (प्रातिपदिक: ब्रह्मन् + लोक)

• वसित्वा: having lived/dwelt
• Type: Verb
• Form: क्त्वान्त (absolutive/gerund), अव्ययभाव; ‘having dwelt’
• Role: पूर्वकालक्रिया (Prior action)
• Root: वस् (धातु)

• अप्सरसाम्: of the Apsarases
• Type: Noun
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, षष्ठी (6), बहुवचन
• Role: सम्बन्ध (Genitive relation)
• Root: अप्सरस् (प्रातिपदिक)

• गणैः: with groups
• Type: Noun
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, तृतीया (3), बहुवचन
• Role: सहकारक (Instrumental of association)
• Root: गण (प्रातिपदिक)

Sandhi Notes

• वसित्वाऽप्सरसां = वसित्वा + अप्सरसाम् (avagraha)

Speaker and setting

Adbhuta and Shanta rasaSetting: Celestial realm (loka)

Speaker

Varāha

Bhu Devi and Varaha

In this verse

Varaha teaches her

Her state of mind

Curious; seeking clarity about the value of human life versus afterlife attainments

What she asks

What is truly remarkable in human life, and what superior fruit is obtained in the other world through merit?

The teaching

Kind of teaching

Phala-śruti / karmaphala cosmology

Subjects

CosmologyEthicsAfterlife and Merit

Core idea

Human actions yield graded post-mortem destinations; heavenly residence is vast in duration yet still within cyclic time.

In practice

Cultivate dharma and devotion with awareness that even exalted heavens are temporary; aim for higher liberation-oriented goals.

The Varaha avatara

With the Earth

Instructional speech to Bhū-devī/a listener about post-mortem merit and higher worlds.

Vrata

Cross references

Tags

• Classical Literature
• Purāṇic Narrative
• Vaishnavism
• Sanskrit Didactic Poetry

FAQs

What is the historical significance of this verse?

It reflects a common Purāṇic didactic strategy: contrasting ordinary human life with post-mortem or supra-human realms (e.g., Brahmaloka) to communicate ideas about merit, reward, and cosmological hierarchy in early medieval Sanskrit literature.

Which geographic location is identified?

No terrestrial geographic site is named here; the verse refers instead to Brahmaloka, a cosmological realm within Purāṇic cosmography rather than a historically locatable place.

What is the primary ethical instruction?

The verse functions as an incentive structure: it foregrounds the value of conduct or merit that leads to exalted post-life states, presenting the “other world” as a meaningful horizon for ethical reflection.