Varaha Purana 197.17 — Adhyaya 197, Shloka 17
The Division of the Gates of Yama’s City and the Description of the Tribunal Hall
शङ्खश्च लिखितश्चैव ह्यङ्गिरा भृगुरेव च ॥ पुलस्त्यः पुलहश्चैव ये चान्ये धर्मपाठकाः ॥
śaṅkhaś ca likhitaś caiva hy aṅgirā bhṛgur eva ca || pulastyaḥ pulahaś caiva ye cānye dharmapāṭhakāḥ ||
Naroon sina Śaṅkha at Likhita, gayundin sina Aṅgiras at Bhṛgu; sina Pulastya at Pulaha rin—at iba pang mga tagapagbigkas at guro ng dharma.
Varāha (default framework; speaker not explicit in fragment)
Varaha Avatara Context: {"is_varaha_focus":false,"aspect_highlighted":"None","boar_form_detail":"None","earth_interaction":"None"}
Bhu Devi Dialogue: {"is_dialogue":false,"speaker_role":"None","bhu_devi_state":"None","key_question":"None"}
Mathura Mandala: {"is_mathura_related":false,"specific_site":"None","parikrama_context":"None","krishna_connection":"None"}
Dharma Shastra: {"has_dharma_rule":false,"topic":"None","instruction_summary":"The verse extends the dharma-authority register (Śaṅkha, Likhita, Aṅgiras, Bhṛgu, Pulastya, Pulaha), emphasizing dharma as a taught/recited tradition (dharma-pāṭhaka).","karmic_consequence":"None"}
Vrata Mahatmya: {"has_vrata":false,"vrata_name":"None","tithi_month":"None","promised_fruit":"None"}
Cosmic Boar Symbolism: {"has_symbolism":false,"symbolic_interpretation":"None","yajna_varaha_imagery":"None","vedantic_connection":"None"}
Philosophical Teaching: {"has_teaching":true,"teaching_type":"hermeneutics of tradition","core_concept":"Dharma persists through pāṭha (recitation), śikṣā (instruction), and lineage memory; plurality of authorities is harmonized in council.","practical_application":"Treat dharma-learning as disciplined study (pāṭha) under teachers; preserve texts carefully; avoid selective quoting divorced from lineage context."}
Subject Matter: ["Ethics","Textual Transmission","Intellectual History"]
Primary Rasa: śānta
Secondary Rasa: adbhuta
Type: court/assembly (sabhā)
Related Themes: Varāha Purāṇa 197.17 (preceding authority list); Varāha Purāṇa 197.19 (transition to Yama and deliberation on remedies)
Visual Art Cues: {"scene_description":"More sages enter or are named within the same radiant council—Śaṅkha and Likhita shown with writing implements, others with ascetic emblems—highlighting ‘manuscript indexing’ and teaching roles.","item_prompts":["scribe-like sages with stylus and palm leaves (Śaṅkha/Likhita)","ṛṣis with kamaṇḍalu and deer-skin","stacked manuscript bundles tied with cords","a semicircle seating arrangement indicating deliberation"],"kerala_mural_prompt":"Kerala mural: emphasize rhythmic grouping of sages; include palm-leaf bundles and stylus; subdued architecture, luminous skin tones.","tanjore_prompt":"Tanjore: gold embossing for halos and manuscript edges; ornate borders; sages in jewel-toned robes with ascetic markers.","mysore_prompt":"Mysore: delicate ornamentation, calm expressions; clear depiction of palm-leaf manuscripts and teaching gestures (vyākhyāna-mudrā).","pahari_prompt":"Pahari: intimate council scene; scribal details (palm leaves) rendered lightly; forest pavilion backdrop."}
Audio Atmosphere: {"recitation_mood":"didactic, archival, steady","suggested_raga":"Kalyāṇi (for clarity)","pace":"medium","voice_tone":"even, enumerative, slightly emphatic on names"}
FAQs
By naming figures associated with normative traditions, the verse supports intertextual mapping between Purāṇas and Dharma-śāstric lineages.
No location is given; the content is prosopographical (person-based) rather than geographic.
Ethical norms are portrayed as preserved and articulated through learned transmitters (dharmapāṭhakāḥ).
Ask anything about this verse
Curious about the meaning, context, or a word? Ask, and continue the conversation in the Vedapath app.
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 audio, word-by-word meanings, and more.