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TheVaraha Purana (Sanskrit:वराह पुराण,Varāha Purāṇa) is a Sanskrit text from thePuranas genre of literature inHinduism.^[1] It belongs to theVaishnavism literature corpus praisingNarayana (Vishnu), but includes chapters dedicated to praising and centered onShiva andShakti (goddesses it calls Brahmi, Vaishnavi and Raudri).^[1][2]

The text exists in many versions, with major sections lost to history.^[2] The text has been estimated to have been first completed between the 10th and 12th centuries, and continuously revised thereafter.^[2][3] The surviving manuscripts of this text are notable, likeLinga Purana, because they do not cover the requiredPanchalakshana (five characteristics) expected in a Purana.^[2] Scholars have questioned whether it really qualifies as a Purana, and whether the extant manuscripts are merely a religious manual largely focussed on Vaishnava practices,^[3][4] with sections that also praise Shiva, Shakti and other gods in a secular way.^[1][2]

TheVaraha Purana includes mythology, particularly of theVaraha incarnation (avatar) of Vishnu rescuing the earth (Prithvi) at the time of a great flood.^[2][5] The text also includes mythology of goddesses and Shiva,^[4] and a discussion ofKarma andDharma calledDharmasamhita.^[6] A large portion of the text is dedicated to medieval geographicMahatmya (tourist guides)^[7] to temples and sites inMathura andNepal, but it lacks adoringKrishna in Mathura-related section of the type found in other Puranas.^[6][8]

The century in whichVaraha Purana was composed is unknown. Wilson suggested 12th-century, during the period ofRamanuja influence.^[6] Most scholars concur that this is a relatively late Purana,^[3] and a few suggest that the first version of this text was complete by the 10th century.^[6] The text is named after theVaraha (boar) avatar of Vishnu, wherein he rescues goddess earth.^[4]

The text is mentioned and summarized in the manuscripts of theMatsya Purana,Skanda Purana and theAgni Purana, but the description of this text in those documents suggests that surviving manuscripts ofVaraha Purana are entirely different from what it once was.^[9][10] The text exists in many versions, with significant variations.^[2][11]

ThePadma Purana categorizesVaraha Purana as aSattva Purana.^[12] Scholars consider theSattva-Rajas-Tamas classification as "entirely fanciful" and there is nothing in this text that actually justifies this classification.^[13]

The printed editions of this work, depending on the version, has 217 or 218adhyāyas (chapters).^[14] Thecritical edition (edited by Anand Swarup Gupta, and published by the All-India Kashiraj Trust, Varanasi) has 215 chapters.^[14] The Hindu tradition and other Puranas claim that this text had 24,000 verses;^[15] however, surviving manuscripts have less than half that number.^[16]

According to theNarada Purana, this text has two parts:purvabhaga anduttarabhaga. While the contents of thepurvabhaga summarized in the Narada text generally correspond to the extant manuscripts of theVaraha Purana, theuttarabhaga summarized in the Narada text is not found in surviving Varaha manuscripts, and presumed lost to history.^[14]

According to Rajendra Hazra, the extant text has four distinct sections, differing in interlocutors and general characteristics.^[2] These sections were likely composed in different time periods, by different authors.^[14][17]

In the first section (chapters 1 to 112),Suta is the narrator andVaraha andPrithvi are the interlocutors. In the second section (chapters 113 to 192), Suta narrates what was told by Prithvi toSanatkumara about the dialogue between Varaha and herself. In the third section (chapters 193 to 212), Suta describes the conversation between the kingJanamejaya and the sageVaishampayana. This section is also known as theDharma Samhita. In the final section (chapters 213 to end), Suta narrates the conversation betweenBrahma and Sanatkumara.^[9]

• Bhagavata Purana
• Vishnu Purana
• Shiva Purana
• Markandeya Purana

• Gregory Bailey (2003). Arvind Sharma (ed.).The Study of Hinduism. University of South Carolina Press.ISBN 978-1-57003-449-7.
• Dalal, Rosen (2014).Hinduism: An Alphabetical Guide. Penguin.ISBN 978-8184752779.
• Dimmitt, Cornelia; van Buitenen, J. A. B. (2012).Classical Hindu Mythology: A Reader in the Sanskrit Puranas. Temple University Press (1st Edition: 1977).ISBN 978-1-4399-0464-0.
• Doniger, Wendy (1993).Purāṇa Perennis: Reciprocity and Transformation in Hindu and Jaina Texts. Albany, New York: State University of New York.ISBN 0-7914-1382-9.
• K P Gietz; et al. (1992).Epic and Puranic Bibliography (Up to 1985) Annoted and with Indexes: Part I: A - R, Part II: S - Z, Indexes. Otto Harrassowitz Verlag.ISBN 978-3-447-03028-1.
• Ariel Glucklich (2008).The Strides of Vishnu : Hindu Culture in Historical Perspective: Hindu Culture in Historical Perspective. Oxford University Press.ISBN 978-0-19-971825-2.
• Hazra, Rajendra Chandra (1940).Studies in the Puranic Records on Hindu Rites and Customs. Motilal Banarsidass (1987 Reprint).ISBN 978-81-208-0422-7.
• Rocher, Ludo (1986). "The Puranas". In Jan Gonda (ed.).A History of Indian Literature. Vol. II, Epics and Sanskrit religious literature, Fasc.3. Wiesbaden: Otto Harrassowitz Verlag.ISBN 978-3-447-02522-5.
• Wilson, H. H. (1864).The Vishnu Purana: A System of Hindu Mythology and Tradition (Volume 1: Introduction, Book I). Read Country Books (reprinted in 2006).ISBN 1-84664-664-2.
• Winternitz, Maurice (1922).History of Indian Literature Vol 1 (Original in German, translated into English by VS Sarma, 1981). New Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass (Reprint 2010).ISBN 978-8120802643.

• Contents of one manuscript of theVarāha Purāṇa, S. V. Iyer (1985)
• Varaha Purana byVyas. Published by:Venkateshwar Steam Press, Bombay (lg.Sanskrit)

• Puranas

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• Articles containing Sanskrit-language text