Varaha Purana 116.4: Adhyaya 116, Shloka 4

An Exposition on the Causes of Happiness and Suffering

Uttara Bhāga · Dharma-ācāra (Vrata, Śauca, Gṛhastha-nīti)

Devanagari script

षष्ठ्यष्टमी ह्यमावास्या तुभयत्र चतुर्दशी ।। मैथुनं नाभिसेवेत द्वादश्यां च तथा प्रिये

Recitation with translationVaraha Purana 116.4

Transliteration

ṣaṣṭhyaṣṭamī hy amāvāsyā tūbhayatra caturdaśī || maithunaṃ nābhiseveta dvādaśyāṃ ca tathā priye

ITRANS transliteration

Translation

چھٹی اور آٹھویں تِتھی، اماوسیا، اور دونوں پکشوں کی چودھویں تِتھی میں، اور اسی طرح دوادشی میں بھی، اے محبوبہ، جماع نہ کرے۔

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Word by Word

• षष्ठी: the sixth lunar day
• Type: Noun
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st/प्रथमा), एकवचन; तिथिनाम (name of lunar day)
• Role: Karta (कर्ता)
• Root: षष्ठी (प्रातिपदिक)

• अष्टमी: the eighth lunar day
• Type: Noun
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st/प्रथमा), एकवचन; तिथिनाम
• Role: Karta (कर्ता)
• Root: अष्टमी (प्रातिपदिक)

• हि: indeed
• Type: Indeclinable
• Form: निपात (particle), अव्यय; emphasis/indeed
• Role: Sambandha (सम्बन्ध/वाक्यसम्बन्ध)
• Root: हि (अव्यय)

• अमावास्या: new-moon day
• Type: Noun
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st/प्रथमा), एकवचन; तिथिनाम
• Role: Karta (कर्ता)
• Root: अमावास्या (प्रातिपदिक)

• तु: and/also
• Type: Indeclinable
• Form: निपात (particle), अव्यय; contrast/and
• Role: Sambandha (सम्बन्ध/वाक्यसम्बन्ध)
• Root: तु (अव्यय)

• उभयत्र: in both (cases/fortnights)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Form: अव्यय (adverb); ‘in both (fortnights/contexts)’
• Role: Adhikarana (अधिकरण)
• Root: उभयत्र (अव्यय)

• चतुर्दशी: the fourteenth lunar day
• Type: Noun
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st/प्रथमा), एकवचन; तिथिनाम
• Role: Karta (कर्ता)
• Root: चतुर्दशी (प्रातिपदिक)

• मैथुनम्: sexual intercourse
• Type: Noun
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, द्वितीया (2nd/द्वितीया), एकवचन
• Role: Karma (कर्म)
• Root: मैथुन (प्रातिपदिक)

• न: not
• Type: Indeclinable
• Form: निषेध (negation particle), अव्यय
• Role: Sambandha (सम्बन्ध/वाक्यसम्बन्ध)
• Root: न (अव्यय)

• अभिसेवेत: should practice/engage in
• Type: Verb
• Form: विधिलिङ् (optative), प्रथमपुरुष (3rd person), एकवचन; परस्मैपद
• Role: Kriya (क्रिया)
• Root: अभि√सेव् (धातु)

• द्वादश्याम्: on the twelfth lunar day
• Type: Noun
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, सप्तमी (7th/सप्तमी), एकवचन; तिथिनाम
• Role: Adhikarana (अधिकरण)
• Root: द्वादशी (प्रातिपदिक)

• च: and
• Type: Indeclinable
• Form: समुच्चय (conjunction), अव्यय
• Role: Sambandha (सम्बन्ध/वाक्यसम्बन्ध)
• Root: च (अव्यय)

• तथा: likewise
• Type: Indeclinable
• Form: अव्यय (adverb); ‘likewise/in the same way’
• Role: Sambandha (सम्बन्ध/वाक्यसम्बन्ध)
• Root: तथा (अव्यय)

• प्रिये: O beloved
• Type: Noun
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, सम्बोधन (8th/सम्बोधन), एकवचन
• Role: Sambodhana (सम्बोधन)
• Root: प्रिय (प्रातिपदिक)

Sandhi Notes

• षष्ठ्यष्टमी = षष्ठी + अष्टमी
• ह्यमावास्या = हि + अमावास्या
• तुभयत्र = तु + उभयत्र
• नाभिसेवेत = न + अभिसेवेत

Speaker and setting

Shanta and Bhakti rasa

Speaker

Varāha

Bhu Devi and Varaha

In this verse

Varaha teaches her

Her state of mind

Attentive, concerned with dharmic regulation of desire

What she asks

On which lunar days should householders restrain sexual activity to preserve purity and dharma?

The teaching

Kind of teaching

Ethical psychology / niyama

Subjects

Ethics

Core idea

Desire becomes dharmic when governed by time, restraint, and higher intention; sacred time disciplines the senses.

In practice

Householders can mark these tithis and treat them as days of increased japa, pūjā, and brahmacarya-like restraint to conserve attention and calm.

The Varaha avatara

With the Earth

Varāha addresses Bhū Devī affectionately (‘priye’) while prescribing sexual restraint on specific tithis—protective, regulating instruction rather than physical interaction.

Dharma

Vrata

Cross references

Tags

• Classical Literature
• Purāṇic Dharma
• Vaishnavism

FAQs

What is the historical significance of this verse?

It reflects a common Purāṇic and Dharmaśāstra pattern of regulating household conduct by lunar calendar observances (tithi-based discipline).

Which geographic location is identified?

No geographic location is named in this verse.

What is the primary ethical instruction?

Practicing restraint on specified lunar days as part of a disciplined religious-ethical regimen.