Varaha Purana 82.5: Adhyaya 82, Shloka 5
The Descent of the Rivers: The Sky-Gaṅgā and Her Fourfold Division
Pūrva Bhāga · River Origins (Scale and Measurement)
सा च चतुरशीतिसहस्रोच्छ्राया ।
sā ca caturaśītisahasrocchrāyā |
sA cha chaturashItisahastrochChrAyA
และมีความสูงแปดหมื่นสี่พัน
Sandhi Notes
- sahasrocchrāyā → sahasra + ucchrāyā (a + u → o)
Rudra
Curious; seeking precise cosmographic measures
What is the magnitude/height of this feature in purāṇic measurement?
Scale humbles the ego and reorients perception toward the cosmic order.
Use ‘vast measure’ contemplation to cultivate śānti and detachment from petty concerns.
The immense number (84,000) signals ‘cosmic scale’ and the purāṇic habit of mapping the universe as a measurable sacred architecture; measurement itself becomes a contemplative aid (dhyāna) for grasping vastness.
Cosmos as a yajña-vedi with fixed dimensions; height/elevation corresponds to the ‘raised’ altar-space where offerings ascend.
Numbers function as upāya: training the mind from the finite to the immeasurable (ananta) by staged magnitudes; the measured cosmos points to the unmeasured Brahman.
Varāha Purāṇa adhyāya 82 measurement sequence (height, flow, division)
FAQs
Large-number measurements are characteristic of Purāṇic cosmography, conveying grandeur and cosmic scale rather than modern empirical units.
None explicitly; the measurement pertains to the described river/celestial feature.
None; the verse is descriptive and cosmographic.
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