Varaha Purana 21.19: Adhyaya 21, Shloka 19

The Disruption of Dakṣa’s Sacrifice, the Hari-Hara Conflict, and the Establishment of Rudra’s Sacrificial Share

Pūrva Bhāga · Pr̥thivī-uddhāra (Cosmic Restoration Narratives)

Devanagari script

रुद्रः कोपोद्भवो यस्तु पूर्वं मग्नो महाजले । स सहस्रार्कसंकाशो निष्चक्राम जलात् ततः ॥ २१.२० ॥

Recitation with translationVaraha Purana 21.19

Transliteration

rudraḥ kopodbhavo yas tu pūrvaṁ magno mahājale | sa sahasrārkasaṅkāśo niścakrāma jalāt tataḥ || 21.20 ||

ITRANS transliteration

Translation

رُدر، جو غضب سے پیدا ہوا، پہلے عظیم پانی میں ڈوبا ہوا تھا؛ پھر ہزار سورجوں کی مانند درخشاں ہو کر پانی سے باہر نکلا۔

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Word by Word

• rudraḥ: Rudra
• Type: Noun
• Form: Masculine (पुंलिङ्ग), Nominative (प्रथमा/1), Singular (एकवचन)
• Role: Karta (कर्ता)
• Root: rudra (प्रातिपदिक)

• kopa-udbhavaḥ: born of wrath
• Type: Adjective
• Form: Masculine (पुंलिङ्ग), Nominative (प्रथमा/1), Singular (एकवचन); तत्पुरुषः ‘arisen from anger’
• Role: Visheshana (विशेषण)
• Root: kopa (प्रातिपदिक) + udbhava (प्रातिपदिक)

• yaḥ: who
• Type: Noun
• Form: Masculine (पुंलिङ्ग), Nominative (प्रथमा/1), Singular (एकवचन) (relative pronoun)
• Role: Karta (कर्ता)
• Root: yad (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)

• tu: indeed/but
• Type: Indeclinable
• Form: Particle (निपात)
• Role: Sambandha (सम्बन्ध)
• Root: tu (अव्यय)

• pūrvam: formerly/before
• Type: Indeclinable
• Form: Adverb (क्रियाविशेषण) of time
• Role: Kala-adhikarana (कालाधिकरण)
• Root: pūrvam (अव्यय)

• magnaḥ: submerged/sunk
• Type: Adjective
• Form: Masculine (पुंलिङ्ग), Nominative (प्रथमा/1), Singular (एकवचन); Past passive participle (क्त) ‘submerged’
• Role: Visheshana (विशेषण)
• Root: magna (कृदन्त-प्रातिपदिक; √majj धातु)

• mahā-jale: in the great waters
• Type: Noun
• Form: Neuter (नपुंसकलिङ्ग), Locative (सप्तमी/7), Singular (एकवचन); कर्मधारयः ‘great water’
• Role: Adhikarana (अधिकरण)
• Root: mahā (प्रातिपदिक) + jala (प्रातिपदिक)

• saḥ: he
• Type: Noun
• Form: Masculine (पुंलिङ्ग), Nominative (प्रथमा/1), Singular (एकवचन)
• Role: Karta (कर्ता)
• Root: tad (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)

• sahasra-arka-saṅkāśaḥ: like a thousand suns
• Type: Adjective
• Form: Masculine (पुंलिङ्ग), Nominative (प्रथमा/1), Singular (एकवचन); तत्पुरुषः ‘having the appearance of a thousand suns’
• Role: Visheshana (विशेषण)
• Root: sahasra (प्रातिपदिक) + arka (प्रातिपदिक) + saṅkāśa (प्रातिपदिक)

• niścakrāma: came out/emerged
• Type: Verb
• Form: Perfect (लिट्), 3rd person (प्रथमपुरुष), Singular (एकवचन), Parasmaipada (परस्मैपद)
• Role: Kriya (क्रिया)
• Root: nis-√kram (धातु)

• jalāt: from the water
• Type: Noun
• Form: Neuter (नपुंसकलिङ्ग), Ablative (पञ्चमी/5), Singular (एकवचन)
• Role: Apadana (अपादान)
• Root: jala (प्रातिपदिक)

• tataḥ: then/from there
• Type: Indeclinable
• Form: Adverb (क्रियाविशेषण) of sequence/source
• Role: Sambandha (सम्बन्ध)
• Root: tataḥ (अव्यय)

Sandhi Notes

• kopodbhavo = kopa-udbhavaḥ
• mahājale = mahā-jale
• sahasrārkasaṅkāśo = sahasra-arka-saṅkāśaḥ
• niścakrāma = nis + cakrāma (nis-√kram)

Speaker and setting

Raudra and Adbhuta rasaSetting: Cosmic ocean

Speaker

Varāha

The teaching

Kind of teaching

Theology of divine modes

Subjects

CosmologyMythic HistoryTheophany (manifestation imagery)

Core idea

The divine manifests both serene and fierce aspects; ‘wrath’ can be read as protective intensity against adharma.

In practice

Channel anger into disciplined protection of dharma; cultivate tapas/clarity so intensity becomes luminous rather than destructive.

Symbolism of the boar

Cross references

Tags

• Classical Literature
• Purāṇic Cosmology
• Sanskrit Narrative
• Śaiva-Vaiṣṇava Intertextuality

FAQs

What is the historical significance of this verse?

It preserves a Purāṇic narrative motif in which deities emerge from primordial waters, reflecting shared cosmological imagery across early Sanskrit traditions and later Purāṇic redactions.

Which geographic location is identified?

No specific terrestrial location is named; the setting is mythic-cosmological (“mahājala”, the great waters), a common Purāṇic cosmological environment rather than a mapped pilgrimage site.

What is the primary ethical instruction?

The verse is primarily descriptive rather than prescriptive; its philosophical emphasis is on transformation and emergence—depicting potent energy (kopa) as a causal force within cosmic narrative rather than issuing a direct moral injunction.