Varaha Purana 5.16 — Adhyaya 5, Shloka 16
Reconciliation of Action and Knowledge: Offering All Acts to Nārāyaṇa and the Hymn to the Yajña-Puruṣa
बृहस्पतिरुवाच । यत्किञ्चित् कुरुते कर्म पुरुषः साध्वसाधु वा । सर्वं नारायणे न्यस्य कुर्वन् नैव च लिप्यते ॥ ५.१६ ॥
bṛhaspatir uvāca | yat kiñcit kurute karma puruṣaḥ sādhv asādhu vā | sarvaṁ nārāyaṇe nyasya kurvan naiva ca lipyate || 5.16 ||
พฤหัสดีกล่าวว่า กรรมใดๆ ที่มนุษย์กระทำ ไม่ว่าดีหรือชั่ว หากมอบทั้งหมดไว้แด่นารายณะแล้วกระทำ ย่อมไม่ถูกกรรมนั้นผูกพันหรือแปดเปื้อน
Bṛhaspati
Varaha Avatara Context: {"is_varaha_focus":true,"aspect_highlighted":"None","boar_form_detail":"None","earth_interaction":"None"}
Bhu Devi Dialogue: {"is_dialogue":true,"speaker_role":"instructor","bhu_devi_state":"None","key_question":"None"}
Mathura Mandala: {"is_mathura_related":false,"specific_site":"None","parikrama_context":"None","krishna_connection":"Implicit Vaiṣṇava theology centered on Nārāyaṇa; no direct Kṛṣṇa-līlā foreshadowing in this fragment."}
Dharma Shastra: {"has_dharma_rule":true,"topic":"None","instruction_summary":"Perform all actions—good or bad—by consigning them to Nārāyaṇa (īśvara-arpana); such action does not bind the agent.","karmic_consequence":"With īśvara-arpana one avoids karmic taint/bandha; without it, doership and attachment generate bondage and further saṃsāra."}
Vrata Mahatmya: {"has_vrata":false,"vrata_name":"None","tithi_month":"None","promised_fruit":"None"}
Cosmic Boar Symbolism: {"has_symbolism":true,"symbolic_interpretation":"Yajña-Varāha/Nārāyaṇa as the cosmic recipient of offerings: when karma is ‘offered into’ the Lord, it becomes yajña and ceases to bind, aligning individual action with cosmic order (ṛta/dharma).","yajna_varaha_imagery":"Offering (havis) = one’s actions; recipient-fire (agni) = Nārāyaṇa as inner yajña; ‘nyāsa’ (placing) = mental oblation that transforms karma into non-binding sacrifice.","vedantic_connection":"Bridges karma-yoga and bhakti: renunciation of agency (kartṛtva-tyāga) and dedication to Brahman/Īśvara; action continues but bondage ends through right knowledge and surrender."}
Philosophical Teaching: {"has_teaching":true,"teaching_type":"karma-yoga / bhakti-yoga synthesis","core_concept":"Karma does not bind when performed as offering to Nārāyaṇa, dissolving attachment and doership.","practical_application":"Before and after any act, mentally dedicate it to Nārāyaṇa; act without possessiveness over results, and accept outcomes as prasāda."}
Subject Matter: ["Ethics","Karma theory","Devotional praxis"]
Primary Rasa: śānta
Secondary Rasa: bhakti
Type: upadeśa-sabhā
Related Themes: VP 5.5.15 (question on karma and mokṣa answered here)
Visual Art Cues: {"scene_description":"Bṛhaspati teaches that all actions, whether good or bad, become non-binding when offered to Nārāyaṇa; the scene can show a subtle inner-yajña visualization behind the discourse.","item_prompts":["Bṛhaspati in teaching mudrā","listeners seated attentively","a symbolic Nārāyaṇa presence (aura/viṣṇu emblem) above or behind","offering motif: small fire-altar or mental oblation imagery","lotus and conch/discus symbols"],"kerala_mural_prompt":"Kerala mural: Bṛhaspati teaching; behind him a stylized Nārāyaṇa aura with śaṅkha-cakra; small yajña motif indicating īśvara-arpana.","tanjore_prompt":"Tanjore: central Nārāyaṇa emblem in gold-leaf halo; Bṛhaspati below instructing; ornate altar/offerings as symbolic backdrop.","mysore_prompt":"Mysore: balanced composition with subtle divine iconography; emphasis on calm instruction and contemplative listeners.","pahari_prompt":"Pahari: lyrical teaching scene; a faint celestial Nārāyaṇa vignette above; minimal altar symbol to suggest inner yajña."}
Audio Atmosphere: {"recitation_mood":"didactic, contemplative","suggested_raga":"Yaman","pace":"slow-medium","voice_tone":"assured, calm, gently emphatic on ‘nārāyaṇe nyasya’"}
FAQs
It reflects a Purāṇic synthesis of ethical discourse with a karma-yoga-like principle: actions are framed as less binding when conceptually dedicated to a higher divine principle, a theme widely attested across early Sanskrit religious-philosophical literature.
No geographic location is named in this verse; the content is primarily ethical and philosophical rather than topographical.
To perform actions while consigning their ownership and outcome to Nārāyaṇa, thereby reducing personal attachment and the sense of moral or karmic ‘taint’ (lipyate) associated with action.
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