Varaha Purana 81.88: Adhyaya 81, Shloka 88
Description of the Divine Mountain Abodes: Meru, Devakūṭa, and Kailāsa
तत्र च यक्षादीनां केचित् पुराणि तस्य चोत्तरतीरे जातुचे महापर्वते त्रिंशद्योजनमण्डलं नन्दजलं नाम सरस् तत्र नन्दो नाम नागराजा वसति शतशीर्षप्रचण्ड इति ।
tatra ca yakṣādīnāṃ kecit purāṇi tasya cottara-tīre jātuc e mahā-parvate triṃśad-yojana-maṇḍalaṃ nanda-jalaṃ nāma saras tatra nando nāma nāgarājā vasati śata-śīrṣa-pracaṇḍa iti
ณ ที่นั้นมีการเล่าเรื่องโบราณบางประการเกี่ยวกับยักษะและหมู่อื่น ๆ; และที่ฝั่งเหนือของมัน บนมหาภูเขาชื่อชาตุจะ มีสระชื่อ นันทชละ มีวงรอบกว้างสามสิบโยชนะ ที่นั่นมีพญานาคชื่อ นันทะ พำนักอยู่ ผู้ถูกพรรณนาว่า ‘ดุร้าย มีร้อยเศียร’
Varāha (default, speaker not explicit in fragment)
Varaha Avatara Context: {"is_varaha_focus":false}
Bhu Devi Dialogue: {"is_dialogue":false,"speaker_role":"instructor"}
Mathura Mandala: {"is_mathura_related":false}
Dharma Shastra: {"has_dharma_rule":false}
Vrata Mahatmya: {"has_vrata":false}
Cosmic Boar Symbolism: {"has_symbolism":false}
Philosophical Teaching: {"has_teaching":true,"teaching_type":"cosmography / sacred geography","core_concept":"The world is layered with non-human polities (Yakṣa, Nāga) and sacred hydro-mountain nodes that structure purāṇic space.","practical_application":"Cultivate reverence and restraint toward waters, mountains, and ‘other-than-human’ realms; read tīrtha/region descriptions as ethical maps of humility before cosmic plurality."}
Subject Matter: ["Geography","Heritage Sites","Mythic Ethnography","Cosmology"]
Primary Rasa: adbhuta
Secondary Rasa: shanta
Type: mountain-lake (saras) within purāṇic sacred geography
Related Themes: Varāha Purāṇa 81.89-81.92 (devaparvata list; color-sequence; Siddhaloka; lotus-earth)
Visual Art Cues: {"scene_description":"A colossal mountain-lake landscape: Nandajala spread like an inland sea beneath Jātuca mountain; on the shore rises Nanda Nāgarāja, terrifying yet regal, with a crown of many serpent hoods; distant Yakṣa figures and ancient hermitages hint at ‘purāṇi’ (old tales).","item_prompts":["vast lake labeled Nandajala","Jātuca mountain massif on northern bank","Nāga-king Nanda with 100 hoods","yakṣa silhouettes/attendants","scale cue: 30-yojana circuit (map-like ring)","mist, lotuses, and deep-green waters"],"kerala_mural_prompt":"Kerala mural style: saturated greens and reds; stylized Nāga with multiple hoods forming a halo; lake rendered as patterned bands; Yakṣas as ornamental side-figures; flat yet grand sacred landscape.","tanjore_prompt":"Tanjore style: central multi-hooded Nāgarāja with gold-leaf ornaments and gem inlays; lake as a decorative blue field; mountain as gilded relief; attendants in symmetrical arrangement.","mysore_prompt":"Mysore painting: delicate linework; soft shading on the lake and mountain; Nāga hoods detailed with jewel-tones; restrained, devotional grandeur.","pahari_prompt":"Pahari style: lyrical mountain contours; cool palette; Nāga emerging from water with elegant hood-fan; tiny narrative vignettes of Yakṣa lore along the shore."}
Audio Atmosphere: {"recitation_mood":"wonder-filled, descriptive, steady","suggested_raga":"Megh (or Malhar family)","pace":"madhyama","voice_tone":"sonorous, narrative, slightly hushed to evoke mystery"}
FAQs
It preserves a layered landscape memory: named mountains and lakes are combined with mythic beings (Yakṣas, Nāgas), a hallmark of Purāṇic cultural geography.
Jātuca (a mountain) and Nandajala (a lake) are named; modern identification remains uncertain without corroborating regional toponyms and manuscript parallels.
The verse implicitly frames lakes and mountain-banks as protected cultural-ecological zones, emphasizing their significance in collective memory and stewardship.
Ask anything about this verse
Answers come straight from the texts, with the shlokas they draw on. Ask in your own words.
A free Google sign-in keeps your chat saved across web and the app.
Read Varaha Purana in the Vedapath app
Scan the QR code to open this directly in the app, with word-by-word meanings, Sanskrit recitation where available, and more.