अथ ऋभुर्वै महामुनिर्देवमानेन द्वादशवत्सरं तपश्चचार । तदवसाने वराहरूपी भगवान्प्रादुरभूत् । स होवाचोत्तिष्ठोत्तिष्ठ वरं वृणीश्वेति । सोदतिष्ठत् । तस्मै नमस्कृत्योवाच भगवन्कामिभिर्यद्यत्कामितं तत्तत्त्वत्सकाशात्स्वप्नेऽपि न याचे । समस्तवेदशास्त्रेतिहासपुराणानि समस्तविद्याजालानि ब्रह्मादयः सुराः सर्वे त्वद्रूपज्ञानान्मुक्तिमाहुः । अतस्त्वद्रूपप्रतिपादिकां ब्रह्मविद्यां ब्रूहीति होवाच । तथेति स होवाच वराहरूपी भगवान् । चतुर्विंशतितत्त्वानि केचिदिच्छन्ति वादिनः । केचित्षट्त्रिंशत्तत्त्वानि केचित्षण्णवतीनि च
atha ṛbhurvai mahāmunirdevamānena dvādaśavatsaraṃ tapaścacāra | tadavasāne varāharūpī bhagavānprādurabhūt | sa hovācottiṣṭhottiṣṭha varaṃ vṛṇīśveti | sodatiṣṭhat | tasmai namaskṛtyovāca bhagavankāmibhiryadyatkāmitaṃ tattattvatsakāśātsvapne'pi na yāce | samastavedaśāstretihāsapurāṇāni samastavidyājālāni brahmādayaḥ surāḥ sarve tvadrūpajñānānmuktimāhuḥ | atastvadrūpapratipādikāṃ brahmavidyāṃ brūhīti hovāca | tatheti sa hovāca varāharūpī bhagavān | caturviṃśatitattvāni kecidicchanti vādinaḥ | kecitṣaṭtriṃśattattvāni kecitṣaṇṇavatīni ca
"And now Ribhu, the great sage, performed austerity for twelve divine years. At its end the Lord in the form of a boar appeared and said: 'Rise, rise, choose a boon.' He rose and, bowing, said: 'Lord! whatever the desiring desire — that I do not ask from You, not even in a dream. All the Vedas, the sciences, the traditions and the Puranas, all the collections of knowledge, Brahma and all the gods say that liberation comes from knowledge of Your form. Therefore teach me the knowledge of brahman that explains Your form.' — 'So be it,' said the Lord in the form of a boar."
46ffd8d125fe · published Aug 12, 2026, 5:00:00 AM UTC
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The book opens with a scene built to the usual pattern — austerity, appearance, offer of a boon; but the answer to the offer falls outside the pattern, and deserves examination. Ordinarily one asks for something: long life, invincibility, offspring. Ribhu answers: svapne'pi na yache, "not even in a dream do I ask."
And he asks for one thing: tvad-rupa-pratipadikam brahma-vidyam, the knowledge of brahman "that explains Your form." Worth noting is this last expression, for it is unusual. He asks not for knowledge in general and not for liberation, but for knowledge of His form; and this knowledge is called brahma-vidya.
That is, from the very first line the book identifies knowledge of brahman with knowledge of a Person's face; and its whole philosophy that follows must be read from this premise. Let us compare this to the Bhagavatam, where the same scene is played out in persons and examined in detail. Prahlada is offered a boon, and answers: "I am no merchant, to serve for wages" (7.10.4); and if a gift must be given — "give me, that no desires whatever be in my heart" (7.10.7).
Let us add what follows from this and deserves holding on to. Refusing a boon is not pride and not indifference. One who asks for a boon receives a thing, and remains with what he had. One who refuses receives a conversation; and this whole book is the fruit of such a refusal.
The expression varaha-rupi, "in the form of a boar," deserves separate note. The boar is the third of the descents: he lifted the earth from the waters. And that the teaching on the Highest is given in the form of an animal is itself an indication — form here is no obstacle to knowledge, but its source.