Varaha Purana 113.2: Adhyaya 113, Shloka 2

Hymn to Varāha and Pṛthivī’s Inquiry

Prelude to the Sanatkumāra Dialogue

Pūrva Bhāga · Bhagavat-stuti (Varāha as Earth-lifter)

Devanagari script

नमस्तस्मै वराहाय लीलयोद्धरते महीम् ॥ सुरमध्येगतो यस्य मेरुः खणखणायते ॥

Recitation with translationVaraha Purana 113.2

Transliteration

namas tasmai varāhāya līlayoddharate mahīm || sura-madhye gato yasya meruḥ khaṇa-khaṇāyate ||

ITRANS transliteration

Translation

Pagpupugay sa yaong Varāha na sa paglalarong banal ay itinaas ang Daigdig; sa gitna ng mga diyos, maging ang Meru ay waring umuugong at nanginginig dahil sa Kanya.

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Word by Word

• namaḥ: salutation
• Type: Indeclinable
• Form: Indeclinable salutation (नमः), governs dative
• Role: Sambandha (सम्बन्ध/obeisance)
• Root: namas (प्रातिपदिक)

• tasmai: to him
• Type: Noun
• Form: Sarvanāma (सर्वनाम), Masculine/Neuter, Dative (चतुर्थी/4), Singular (एकवचन)
• Role: Sampradāna (सम्प्रदान)
• Root: tad (प्रातिपदिक)

• varāhāya: to Varāha
• Type: Noun
• Form: Masculine (पुंलिङ्ग), Dative (चतुर्थी/4), Singular (एकवचन)
• Role: Sampradāna (सम्प्रदान)
• Root: varāha (प्रातिपदिक)

• līlayā: playfully / as a sport
• Type: Noun
• Form: Feminine (स्त्रीलिङ्ग), Instrumental (तृतीया/3), Singular (एकवचन)
• Role: Karaṇa (करण)
• Root: līlā (प्रातिपदिक)

• uddharate: lifts up / rescues
• Type: Verb
• Form: Laṭ (लट्/present), Ātmanepada (आत्मनेपद), Prathama-puruṣa (प्रथमपुरुष), Singular (एकवचन)
• Role: Kriyā (क्रिया)
• Root: ud-√hṛ (हृ धातु)

• mahīm: the earth
• Type: Noun
• Form: Feminine (स्त्रीलिङ्ग), Accusative (द्वितीया/2), Singular (एकवचन)
• Role: Karma (कर्म)
• Root: mahī (प्रातिपदिक)

• sura-madhye: in the midst of the gods
• Type: Noun
• Form: Tatpuruṣa (तत्पुरुष) ‘surāṇāṃ madhye’; Neuter (नपुंसकलिङ्ग), Locative (सप्तमी/7), Singular (एकवचन)
• Role: Adhikaraṇa (अधिकरण)
• Root: sura + madhya (प्रातिपदिक)

• gataḥ: gone / situated
• Type: Verb
• Form: Past active participle (क्त), Masculine (पुंलिङ्ग), Nominative (प्रथमा/1), Singular (एकवचन); agrees with meruḥ
• Role: Karta (कर्ता)
• Root: gam (गम् धातु)

• yasya: whose
• Type: Noun
• Form: Sarvanāma (सर्वनाम), Masculine/Neuter, Genitive (षष्ठी/6), Singular (एकवचन)
• Role: Sambandha (सम्बन्ध/possessor)
• Root: yad (प्रातिपदिक)

• meruḥ: Mount Meru
• Type: Noun
• Form: Masculine (पुंलिङ्ग), Nominative (प्रथमा/1), Singular (एकवचन)
• Role: Karta (कर्ता)
• Root: meru (प्रातिपदिक)

• khaṇa-khaṇāyate: clinks / resounds
• Type: Verb
• Form: Laṭ (लट्/present), Ātmanepada (आत्मनेपद), Prathama-puruṣa (प्रथमपुरुष), Singular (एकवचन); onomatopoetic denominative ‘to make a clinking sound’
• Role: Kriyā (क्रिया)
• Root: khaṇa-khaṇāy (धातु/नामधातु)

Sandhi Notes

• namas tasmai → namas tasmai (often written namas-tasmai)
• līlayā uddharate → līlayoddharate (ā + u → o)
• sura-madhye (compound)
• khaṇa-khaṇāyate is reduplicated/onomatopoetic form

Speaker and setting

Adbhuta and Bhakti rasaSetting: Cosmic geography

Speaker

Narrator

Bhu Devi and Varaha

In this verse

She listens

Her state of mind

Relieved (implied by being lifted)

The teaching

Kind of teaching

Theology of līlā and providence

Subjects

CosmologyEcological Narratives

Core idea

Divine power can be simultaneously playful and salvific; the Lord’s grace restores the burdened world without limitation.

In practice

Cultivate trust (śraddhā) that restoration is possible even when the ‘Meru’ of one’s life trembles—approach the divine with stuti rather than despair.

The Varaha avatara

Aspect

Earth rescue

The boar form

Implicit boar-lifter

With the Earth

He lifts (uddharati) the Earth as a līlā (sportive, effortless grace).

Symbolism of the boar

Cross references

Tags

• Classical Literature
• Vaiṣṇavism
• Purāṇic Cosmology
• Environmental Motifs

FAQs

What is the historical significance of this verse?

It encapsulates the pṛthivī-uddhāra motif central to the Varāha narrative cycle, a key theme in Purāṇic cosmological storytelling and cultural memory.

Which geographic location is identified?

Meru is named as a cosmological mountain (not a directly mappable historical site), central to Purāṇic and broader Indic cosmography.

What is the primary ethical instruction?

An implied ethic of protection and restoration: the Earth is portrayed as worthy of safeguarding, with governance/agency oriented toward preservation.