Essence of Varaha Purana

ESSENCE OF VARAHA PURANA

By assuming the incarnation of Varaha, Lord Vishnu salvaged Earth (Bhu Devi) from  being sunk into the under-world of !asatala" by the fierceful demon #iranyakasi$u% &he 'reat Boar lifted u$ Earth by #is damshtra" (aws) even as the demon was annihilated% Bhu Devi was stu$ified in bewilderment but after recovering from the shock, she was emboldened to $ose a volley of ueries to Varaha Deva as to how the entire *niverse got dissolved, how the $rocess of +reation was revived after each al$a, how Dharma" (Virtue) and dharma" (Vice) were balanced and in which kind of e.treme situations that Lord Vishnu would incarnate in various forms% Lord Varaha outlined Bhu Devi"s difficult ueries in a brief manner/ The Origin of Creation

&he 0u$ernatural 1ower is indeed singular and eternal% 2nce this fundamental fact is recognised, e.$lanations on the above ueries would not be far to seek% t the commencement of +reation, the 0u$reme Energy created 1ancha Bhuthas" (&he 3ive Elements) of ir, 0ky, 3ire, 4ater and Earth5 hamkara"(Ego or the 0ense of 0elf or 1ersonality)5 the 6aha &atva ( &he 'reat Element)5 7ature5 the +ollective and 8ndividual +onsciousness reflected in the &ri-'unas" or &hree s$ects or ualities of Behaviour vi9% 0atva" ( 1ure as coloured white), !a:as" ( 1assion as coloured red) and &amas" (8gnorance as coloured dark) in varying $ermutations and combinations5 the tman" or shetra:na" (0oul) and 1rakriti" or 6aya (8llusion)5 the&anmatras" or the subtle forms of 6atter as $roduced by the interaction of the &hree 'unas5 the 1anch a- 8ndriyas" (0ense 2rgans) which are created by &anmatras vi9% Eyes, Ears, 7ose, &ongue and 0kin5 the e.tensions of the 3ive 0ense 2rgans or the nanendriyas"( +ognitive) as $erceived in the forms of Vision, 0ound, 0mell, &aste and &ouch as also the further e.tensions vi9% the armendriyas"or the ctive E.$ressions of 0$eaking, 'ras$ing, 6oving, Eliminating and !e$roducing% (&ogether, the nanendriyas constitute the Entrance Doors of the 0ense 2rgans and the armendriyas constitute the E.it Doors)% Before the conce$tion of the basic canons of +reation as described above, the 0u$reme 3orce manifested as Lord 7arayan-7ara" meaning water and ayan"denoting abode- who in turn created Earth% &ogether, 7arayan and Earth $roduced an Egg and from the navel of the Lord, who was lying in yogic slee$, s$routed a lotus5 on the to$ of the lotus stem a$$eared Lord Brahma who was asked to commence +reation% Lord Brahma could not succeed and out of anger and frustration a$$eared Lord !udra who too entered water to  $erform $enance% Brahma e.ecuted severe $enace too and eventually attained the $owe rs of +reation% #e created 1ra:a$athi from the left toe of his right foot and also created the latter"s consort from the right toe of his left foot% &he co$u lative action of 1ra:a$ati and his consort had thus $aved the way of 0rishti" in a formal manner% 0wayambhu 6anu who was born from the 1ra:a$athis had thus launched the creation in a regular manner% 4hile +reation was initiated at the end of each al$a, there were more of such ste$s in the 1rocess% 3or instance, there were five kinds of vidyas" (3alse nowledge)

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 $roduced by Lord 7arayana vi9% &amas" (Darkness), 6oha" (ttachment), 6aha 6oha" (E.treme attachment), &asmira" (ealousy) and ndha &asmira" (nger)% &hereafter, there was the 6ukhya 0arga" or the $rinci$al creation of immovable ob:ects like mountains and trees% lso, there was &hiryaksrota" related to animals (uadru$ed)5 the si.th creation was called 0atvik 0arga"or o f Deities with Virtuous nature5 the 0eventh creation was called rvaaksrota 0arga" related to human beings5 the Eighth creation vi9% nugraha 0arga" $ertaining to 0ages and hermits and finally the ninth creation was of aumara 0arga" related to Eternal dolescents like 0anaka, 0anandana, 0anatana, and 0anat umara5 then emerged the &en 6anasa 1utras vi9%6arichi, ngira, tri, 1ulah, ratu, 1ulasya, 1racheta, Bhrigu, 7arad and Vasishtha% But, the foremost creation of Lord !udra was as rtha 7areeswara"5 collectively there were Eleven !udras, vi9% 6aha Deva, 0hiva, 6aha !udra, 0hankara, 7eelalohita, Esana !udra, Vi:aya !udra, Bheema !udra, Deva Deva, Bhavodbhava and dityatmika 0ri !udra5 their corres$onding consorts are Dhee Devi, Dhriti Devi, *shna or !asala Devi, *ma Devi, 7eeyut Devi, 0ar$i Devi, Ela Devi, mbika Devi, 8ravati Devi, 0udha Devi and Deeksha Devi% Exemplary Devotion of Priyavrata A!hva!ira Va!" an# Rai$hya %P"n#ari&a&!ha an# 'a#a#hara (antra! in)l"#e#*

8n the conte.t of balancing the forces of Dharma and dharma, instances of e.em$lary devotion dis$layed by 8llustrious ings and 0ages through the ages were cited by Bhagavan Varaha to 1rithvi% +ing Priyavrata  son of 0wayambhu 6anu, relinuished his ingdom to his sons and 0age 7arada visited his hermitage once%&he 0age narrated his own interesting e.$eriences% 8n one case, he $assed by a lake in 0wethadvi$a and found a highly attractive and lonely damsel when he felt infatuated and lusty% 0oon he discovered that she was Devi 0avitri #erself- the embodiment of Virtue- and felt an un$ardonable sense of shame for his sin% 3rom #er body emerged three male figures, vi9% the three Vedas of !ik,