Varaha Purana

उद्धृत्य मां कथं सृष्टिं सृजसे किं च सा त्वया। सकृद् ध्रियेत कृत्वा च पाल्यते चापि केन च ।। १.

After lifting me up, how do you create the world? And by whom is it sustained and protected, and in what manner?

केन वा सुलभो देव जायसे सततं विभो । कथं च सृष्टेरादिः स्यादवसानं कथं भवेत् ।। १.

By whom, O Lord, are you so easily born again and again? How does creation begin, and how does it end?

कथं युगस्य गणना संख्याऽस्यानुचतुर्युगम् । के वा विशेषास्तेष्वस्मिन् का वाऽवस्था महेश्वर ।। १.

How is the reckoning of the yugas, and what is the count within a caturyuga? What are the distinctions among them, and what is the state in each, O great Lord?

यज्वानः के च राजानः के च सिद्धिं परां गताः । एतत्सर्वं समासेन कथयस्व प्रसीद मे ।। १.

Who are the sacrificers, and who are the kings who attained supreme success? Please tell me all this in summary, be gracious to me.

इत्युक्तः क्रोडरूपेण जहास परमेश्वरः । हसतस्तस्य कुक्षौ तु जगद्धात्री ददर्श ह १.

Thus addressed, the Supreme Lord, in the form of a boar, laughed; and as he laughed, the earth beheld the sustainer of the world within his belly.

सचन्द्रसूर्यग्रहसप्तलोका- नन्तः स्थितांस्तावदुपात्तधर्मान् । इतीदृशं पश्यति सा समस्तं यावत्क्षितिर्वेपितसर्वगात्रा ।। १.

She saw within him the moon, the sun, the planets, the seven worlds, all established there, upholding their respective duties; seeing all this, the earth trembled in every limb.

उन्मीलितास्यस्तु यदा महात्मा दृष्टो धरण्याऽमलसर्वगात्र्या । तावत्स्वरूपेण चतुर्भुजेन महोदधौ सुप्तमथोऽन्वपश्यत् ।। १.

When the great-souled one opened his mouth, the earth, pure in every part, beheld him; then, with his own form of four arms, she saw him lying asleep in the great ocean.

शेषपर्यङ्कशयने सुप्तं देवं जनार्दनम् । दृष्ट्वा तन्नाभिपङ्कस्थमन्तःस्थं च चतुर्मुखम्। कृताञ्जलिपुटा देवी स्तुतिं धात्री जगाद ह ।। १.

Seeing the Lord Janardana asleep upon the couch of Shesha, and beholding the four-faced one within the lotus of his navel, the goddess, hands joined in reverence, addressed a hymn to the Creator.

धरण्युवाच। नमः कमलपत्राक्ष नमस्ते पीतवाससे। नमः सुरारिविध्वंसकारिणे परमात्मने ।। १.

The Earth spoke: Salutations to you, lotus-eyed one; salutations to you, clad in yellow garments; salutations to you, destroyer of the enemies of the gods, supreme soul.

शेषपर्यङ्कशपने धृतवक्षस्थलश्रिये । नमस्ते सर्वदेवेश नमस्ते मोक्षकारिणे ।। १.

Salutations to you, whose chest shines while reclining upon Shesha's couch; salutations to you, lord of all gods; salutations to you, giver of liberation.

नमः शार्ङ्गासिचक्राय जन्ममृत्युविवर्जिते। नमो नाभ्युत्थितमहत्कमलासनजन्मने ।। १.

Salutations to you, who bear the bow, sword, and discus; who are free from birth and death; salutations to you, born from the great lotus arising from your navel.

नमो विद्रुमरक्तास्यपाणिपल्लवशोभिने । शरणं त्वां प्रसन्नाऽस्मि त्राहि नारीमनागसम् ।। १.

Salutations to you, whose lips are coral-red and whose hands shine like tender shoots; I seek refuge in you, I am pleased—protect me, O Lord, from the distress of women and serpents.

पूर्णनीलाञ्जनाकारं वाराहं ते जनार्दन। दृष्ट्वा भीताऽस्मि भूयोऽपि जगत् त्वद्देहगोचरम्। इदानीं कुरु मे नाथ दयां त्राहि महाभयात्।। १.

Seeing your boar form, O Janardana, dark as full indigo, I am again frightened, for the world is encompassed by your body; now, O Lord, show me mercy and rescue me from great fear.

केशवः पातु मे पादौ जङ्घे नारायणो मम । माधवो मे कटिं पातु गोविन्दो गुह्यमेव च ।। १.

May Kesava protect my feet, Narayana my shanks, Madhava protect my waist, and Govinda my secret parts.

नाभिं विष्णुस्तु मे पातु उदरं मधुसूदनः । ऊरुं त्रिविक्रमः पातु हृदयं पातु वामनः ।। १.

May Vishnu protect my navel, Madhusudana my abdomen, Trivikrama my thighs, and Vamana my heart.

श्रीधरः पातु मे कण्ठं हृषीकेशो मुखं मम । पद्मनाभस्तु नयने शिरो दामोदरो मम ।। १.

May Sridhara protect my throat, Hrishikesha my mouth, Padmanabha my eyes, and Damodara my head.

एवं न्यस्य हरेर्न्यासमामानि जगती तदा । नमस्ते भगवन् विष्णो इत्युक्त्वा विरराम ह ।। १.

Thus, having performed the protective invocation of Hari, the Earth then said, 'Salutations, O blessed Vishnu,' and became silent.

सूत उवाच । ततस्तुष्टो हरिर्भक्त्या धरण्यात्मशरीरगाम् । मायां प्रकाश्य तेनैव स्थितो वाराहमूर्त्तिना ।। २.

Suta said: Then Hari, pleased by the devotion of the Earth, revealed his own maya and remained there in the form of a boar.

जगाद किं ते सुश्रोणि प्रश्नमेनं सुदुर्लभम् । कथयामि पुराणस्य विषयं सर्वशास्त्रतः ।। २.

He spoke: What is your question, O beautiful-hipped one? This inquiry is most rare; I will tell you the subject of the Purana, drawn from all the scriptures.

पुराणानां हि सर्वेषामयं साधारणः स्मृतः । श्लोकं धरणि निश्चित्य निःशेषं त्वं पुनः श्रृणु ।। २.

For among all the Puranas, this verse is considered universal; having determined this, O Earth, listen again to the entirety.

श्रीवराह उवाच । सर्गश्च प्रतिसर्गश्च वंशो मन्वन्तराणि च । वंशानुचरितं चैव पुराणं पञ्चलक्षणम् ।। २.

Sri Varaha said: Creation, dissolution, genealogies, periods of Manus, and the accounts of dynasties—these five characteristics define a Purana.

आदिसर्गमहं तावत् कथयामि वरानने । यस्मादारभ्य देवानां राज्ञां चरितमेव च । ज्ञायते चतुरंशश्च परमात्मा सनातनः ।। २.

I shall first recount the primary creation, O radiant-faced one, from which the deeds of gods and kings begin to be known, and the eternal Supreme Soul is understood in fourfold aspects.

आदावहं व्योम महत् ततोऽणुं- रेकैव मत्तः प्रबभूव बुद्धिः । त्रिधा तु सा सत्त्वरजस्तमोभिः पृथक्पृथक्तत्त्वरूपैरुपेता ।। २.

At first, I was the great sky; then, from me, the subtle element arose—consciousness emerged as a single entity; that consciousness, divided threefold by sattva, rajas, and tamas, took on distinct forms of elements.

तस्मिंस्त्रिकेऽहं तमसो महान् स सदोच्यते सर्वविदां प्रधानः । उतस्मादपि क्षेत्रविदूर्जितोऽभूद् बभूव वुद्धिस्तु ततो बभूव ।। २.

In that triad, I am the darkness called 'mahat,' which is always named the chief by those who know all; from that, the knower of the field arose, and from that, intellect was born.

तस्मात्तु तेभ्यो श्रवणादिहेतवस् ततोऽक्षमाला जगतो व्यवस्थिता । भूतैर्गतैरेव च पिण्डमूर्ति- र्मया भद्रे विहिता त्वात्मनैव ।। २.

From those, the causes of hearing and so forth arose; then the chain of senses was established for the world; and by those elements, O blessed one, I fashioned the embodied form by my own self.

शून्यं त्वासीत् तत्र शब्दस्तु खं च तस्माद् वायुस्तत एवानु तेजः । तस्मादापस्तत एवानु देवि मया सृष्टा भवती भूतधात्री ।। २.

There was emptiness, sound, and space; from that arose air, then light; from that, water, and then, O goddess, you were created by me as the bearer of beings.

योगे पृथिव्या जलवत् ततोऽपि सबुद्बुदं कललं त्वण्डमेव । तस्मिन् प्रवृत्ते द्विगतेऽहमासी- दापोमयश्चात्मनात्मानमादौ ।। २.

On the earth, as in water, there appeared foam, then a lump, then an egg; when it was formed and split, I existed within it, composed of water, manifesting myself at the beginning.

सृष्ट्वा नारास्ता अथो तत्र चाहं येन स्यान्मे नाम नारायणेति । कल्पे कल्पे तत्र संयामि भूयः सुप्तस्य मे नाभिजः स्याद् यथाद्यः ।। २.

Having created the waters, I was present there; thus, my name became Nārāyaṇa, for I dwell in the waters; in every cycle, I return there again, and from my navel, as in the first time, arises one when I sleep.

एवंभूतस्य मे देवि नाभिपद्मे चतुर्मुखः । उत्तस्थौ स मया प्रोक्तः प्रजाः सृज महामते ।। २.

O goddess, from my navel-lotus, when I was thus, the four-faced one arose; I instructed him, 'Create the beings, O wise one.'