Narratives from the Varāha Purāṇa

Agastya tells a king how a hut by a lake in Ilāvṛta led him to a hidden world, where Nārāyaṇa made himself known and Rudra taught that the three are one.

King Anaraṇya covets the Brahmodbhava lotus at Māna-sarovara, falls ill with leprosy, and is cured by the Ārogya Vrata that Vasishṭha teaches him.

Agastya teaches the year-long Bhū-Dvādaśī vrata and tells how Bhagavān Vishṇu made a mango tree shrink and so named the tīrtha Kubja-kāmra.

After Bhagavān Vishṇu lifts the Earth as Varāha, Bhūdevī praises him, asks seven sets of questions, sees the whole world in his laughter, and hears the Purāṇa's five marks.

The black tamo-guṇa Devī born of Rudra's energy slays the daitya Ruru and so receives the name Cāmuṇḍā, and Bhagavān Rudra sings her stuti.

Gautama feeds the ṛshis through a twelve-year drought, is tricked by a māyā cow, brings Gaṅgā from Bhagavān Śiva's jaṭā, and so the Godāvarī is born.

The asura Guḍākeśa gave his own body to Bhagavān Vishṇu, and it became copper, tin, gold and bronze, which is why copper is so dear in pūjā.

A hunter who came to kill the brāhmaṇa Āruṇi is given a simple *vrata*, and through his *tapas* receives the Vedas from Durgāsa.

A dying bird thrown into the Āditya-tīrtha at Saukaraka is reborn as a Vaiśya boy, and his whole family reaches Śveta-dvīpa.

King Durjaya conquers the world, demands the wish-fulfilling gem of the ṛshi Gauramukha, and is destroyed by the Sudarśana Cakra at Naimisha.

At Māna-sarovara, Nārada teaches the apsarasas the Caitra Śukla Dvādaśī vrata to win Bhagavān Vishṇu as husband, and warns them of a śāpa.

Nārada sees many Vishṇu-like beings at Śveta-dvīpa, meditates on Bhagavān Kṛshṇa for a thousand divine years, and is taught the Pañcarātra.

Bhagavān Varāha teaches Bhūdevī the Pañcarātra initiation, the lesson of King Śveta on food-giving, and the cow-gifts made of sesame, water and juice.

Ṛshi Agastya tells King Bhadrāśva of Paśupāla, the herdsman king whose forest by the eastern ocean shows how Brahmā is born and how the ātman is known.

Rudra cuts off Brahmā's fifth head, wanders twelve years with the skull in his hand, and is freed at Kāśī, which becomes Kapāla Mocana.

At the dawn of creation Rudra dives into the cosmic waters, sees Bhagavān Nārāyaṇa, sings his stuti and is given all-knowledge.

Satya-tapas, once a Bhṛgu brāhmaṇa born as a hunter, becomes a great tapasvin, passes the test of Bhagavān Vishṇu and Indra, and rises with his guru Āruṇi.

After burning Tripura, Bhagavān Śiva lost his powers. Bhagavān Vishṇu woke him and sent him to roam the cremation ground carrying skulls.

A brahmin asks to see Vishṇu-māyā, lives fifty years as a Nishāda woman in one morning, and is then taken to Śveta-dvīpa by Bhagavān Vishṇu.

Brahmā, Vishṇu and Maheśvara look at one another, and a Kumārī of three colours is born: the Tri-śakti, one power in three forms.

The twenty-armed Vaishṇavī fights the asura Mahisha for ten thousand divine years and kills him on the peak of Śataśṛṅga.