Varaha Purana 113.35: Adhyaya 113, Shloka 35
Hymn to Varāha and Pṛthivī’s Inquiry
Prelude to the Sanatkumāra Dialogue
Pūrva Bhāga · Pṛthivī-uddhāra (Earth’s appeal and recourse to Viṣṇu)
प्रत्याख्याता भगवता तेनाप्युक्तमिदं वचः ।। नाहं तारयितुं शक्तः सुष्रोणि व्रज माधवम्
pratyākhyātā bhagavatā tenāpy uktam idaṃ vacaḥ || nāhaṃ tārayituṃ śaktaḥ suśroṇi vraja mādhavam
pratyAkhyAtA bhagavatA tenApyuktamidaM vachaH || nAhaM tArayituM shaktaH sushroNi vraja mAdhavam
Ta đã bị Đấng Bhagavān khước từ, và chính Ngài nói lời này: ‘Hỡi người nữ có hông đẹp, ta không thể cứu độ nàng; hãy đến với Mādhava.’
Sandhi Notes
- tenāpy = tena api
- uktam idaṃ = uktam idam
- nāhaṃ = na aham
Dharaṇī (Pṛthivī) reporting Brahmā’s response
Rejected by an intermediary, yet hopeful due to redirection
If Brahmā cannot rescue, will Mādhava alone be the effective refuge for Earth’s deliverance?
Secondary authorities may guide but cannot ultimately deliver; true rescue requires approaching the supreme.
Accept redirection without resentment; treat limitations of intermediaries as guidance toward the highest remedy (parama-śaraṇa).
Earth recounts being redirected by Brahmā to Mādhava; interaction is mediated guidance toward the supreme rescuer.
The inability of Brahmā to ‘save’ underscores the Vedāntic hierarchy: created intellect/secondary causality cannot finally liberate; only the supreme Lord (Viṣṇu/Mādhava) grants deliverance.
Symbolic ‘intermediary cannot complete the sacrifice’ motif: the ritual/created order points beyond itself to the supreme sacrificer.
Supports īśvara-supremacy and śaraṇāgati: liberation/protection is not a function of limited deities but of the supreme controller of māyā and karma.
Mādhava name can resonate with Kṛṣṇa traditions, but the verse’s function is hierarchical theology (Brahmā → Viṣṇu), not Mathurā-mahātmya.
Echoes 113.34–35: ‘go to Mādhava’ and ‘he can rescue all’
FAQs
It shows hierarchical narrative routing—authority is distributed, and resolution is deferred to the figure framed as most competent, a common structural device in Purāṇic compilation.
No geographic site is specified; the verse is concerned with divine interlocutors and authority.
Acknowledging limitations and directing the vulnerable toward effective support is presented as a responsible course of action.
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