Varaha Purana 86.34: Adhyaya 86, Shloka 34

Description of Śākadvīpa and Kuśadvīpa

Cosmographic Geography

Pūrva Bhāga · Sacred Geography (Color-Descriptors and Place-Names)

Devanagari script

द्रोणस्य हरितं तदेव बलाधनं भवति

Recitation with translationVaraha Purana 86.34

Transliteration

droṇasya haritaṃ tadeva balādhanaṃ bhavati

ITRANS transliteration

Translation

ลักษณะสีเขียวของโทฺรณะนั้นเอง เรียกโดยตรงว่า ‘พลาธนะ’

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Word by Word

• द्रोणस्य: of Droṇa
• Type: Noun
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, षष्ठी (6th/Genitive), एकवचन
• Role: Sambandha (सम्बन्ध/Genitive)
• Root: द्रोण (प्रातिपदिक)

• हरितम्: green (name/thing)
• Type: Noun
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा/द्वितीया (1st/2nd), एकवचन; विधेय-नाम (predicate noun)
• Role: Visheshya (विशेष्य/Predicate complement)
• Root: हरित (प्रातिपदिक)

• तत्: that
• Type: Noun
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा/द्वितीया (1st/2nd), एकवचन; सर्वनाम
• Role: Anuvartaka (अनुवर्तक/Correlative)
• Root: तद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)

• एव: indeed/only
• Type: Indeclinable
• Form: अव्यय; अवधारण (emphasis/only)
• Role: Sambandha (सम्बन्ध/particle)
• Root: एव (अव्यय)

• बलाधनम्: wealth of strength / strength-wealth
• Type: Noun
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा/द्वितीया (1st/2nd), एकवचन; समासः—तत्पुरुष (बलस्य धनम्)
• Role: Visheshya (विशेष्य/Predicate complement)
• Root: बल + धन (प्रातिपदिक)

• भवति: becomes/is
• Type: Verb
• Form: लट्-लकार (Present), प्रथमपुरुष (3rd person), एकवचन
• Role: Kriya (क्रिया/Verb)
• Root: भू (धातु)

Sandhi Notes

• तदेव → तत् + एव

Speaker and setting

Adbhuta and Shanta rasa

Speaker

Varāha

Bhu Devi and Varaha

In this verse

Varaha teaches her

Her state of mind

Curious; attentive to sacred-geographic nomenclature and ecological markers

What she asks

How are regions, features, and their epithets (e.g., Droṇa’s ‘green’ and the name Balādhana) to be correctly identified and understood?

The teaching

Kind of teaching

Hermeneutics of place-names (nāma-rūpa)

Subjects

GeographyEcology

Core idea

Names in Purāṇic geography are not arbitrary; they encode observable qualities and inherited memory of the land.

In practice

Approach sacred landscapes with attentiveness to ecological signs and traditional names; preserve the ‘green’ markers that sustain identity and sanctity.

Cross references

Tags

• Classical Literature
• Vaishnavism
• Ancient Geography
• Ecological Ethics

FAQs

What is the historical significance of this verse?

It shows how color descriptors (harita) can function in the formation or explanation of place-names within Purāṇic geographic registers.

Which geographic location is identified?

Droṇa and Balādhana are referenced as named entities; further identification depends on wider textual parallels.

What is the primary ethical instruction?

No explicit ethical directive; the verse contributes to documenting the landscape through observable qualities.