Varaha Purana 13.20: Adhyaya 13, Shloka 20
The Genealogy of the Pitṛs and the Determination of Śrāddha Times
Pūrva Bhāga · Cosmological and Dharmic Taxonomy (Gaṇa/Nāma-kathana context)
प्रभावं च महर्द्धिं च विस्तरेण निबोध मे । धर्ममूर्तिधरास्तेषां त्रयोऽन्ये परमा गणाः । तेषां नामानि लोकांश्च कीर्तयिष्यामि तच्छृणु ॥ १३.२० ॥
prabhāvaṃ ca maharddhiṃ ca vistareṇa nibodha me | dharmamūrtidharās teṣāṃ trayo'nye paramā gaṇāḥ | teṣāṃ nāmāni lokāṃś ca kīrtayiṣyāmi tac chṛṇu || 13.20 ||
prabhAvaM cha mahardhi cha vistareNa nibodha me | dharmamUrtidharAsteShAM trayo.anye paramA gaNAH | teShAM nAmAni lokAMshcha kIrtayiShyAmi tachChRRiNu || 13.20 ||
Hãy học từ ta, một cách tường tận, về uy lực và phú quý lớn lao của họ. Trong số ấy còn có ba đoàn tối thượng, những bậc mang thân tướng của Dharma. Nay ta sẽ kể tên và các cõi của họ—hãy lắng nghe.
Sandhi Notes
- त्रयोऽन्ये = त्रयः + अन्ये (अः + अ → ओऽ)
- लोकांश्च = लोकान् + च (न् + च → ञ्च)
- तच्छृणु = तत् + शृणु (त् + श् → च्छ्)
Varāha
Curious
What are the powers (prabhāva), prosperities (maharddhi), names, and lokas of these dharma-embodied supreme gaṇas?
Dharma is ‘embodied’ in higher orders of beings; their prabhāva/ṛddhi and lokas reflect alignment with dharma.
Pursue dharma not only as rule-following but as attunement to cosmic order; prosperity is portrayed as downstream of dharmic embodiment.
Varāha promises detailed exposition to Earth: influence, prosperity, and dharma-bearing groups and their worlds.
Varāha’s teaching frames dharma as an embodied cosmic principle (dharma-mūrti), suggesting that moral order is ontologically real and world-generative.
Implicit: dharma as ‘body’ parallels yajña’s structured limbs—order, measure, and right performance sustaining prosperity (ṛddhi).
Dharma as expression of ṛta/īśvara-niyati: ethical order is not merely social but woven into cosmic hierarchy and loka-allocation.
Varāha Purāṇa 13.13.21-22 (Santānakā lokas; Vairājas as Virāja’s progeny; deities worship them)
FAQs
It reflects a common Purāṇic cataloguing style in which cosmological classes (gaṇas) and their associated realms (lokas) are enumerated, supporting the text’s broader encyclopedic and didactic function.
No specific terrestrial location is named in this verse; it refers instead to lokas (realms/worlds) in a cosmological sense.
The verse frames dharma as something embodied and upheld by exemplary groups, emphasizing attentive listening and learning as the means to understand moral-cosmological order.
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