Vamana Purana — Indra's Penance & Aditi's Vow, Shloka 16

Indra’s Penance at the Great River and Aditi’s Solar Vow for Vishnu’s Descent

Devanagari script

तथा पुरा दुर्यजनः सुरासुरैः ख्यातो महामेध इति प्रसिद्धः यत्रास्य चक्रे भगवान् मुरारिः वास्तव्यमव्यक्ततनुः खमूर्तिमत् ख्यातिं जगामाथ गदाधरेति महाघवृक्षस्य शितः कुठारः

Transliteration

tathā purā duryajanaḥ surāsuraiḥ khyāto mahāmedha iti prasiddhaḥ yatrāsya cakre bhagavān murāriḥ vāstavyamavyaktatanuḥ khamūrtimat khyātiṃ jagāmātha gadādhareti mahāghavṛkṣasya śitaḥ kuṭhāraḥ

Translation

{"prahlada_mentioned": false, "lineage_reference": null, "bhakta_parampara": null, "hiranyakashipu_conVamana Purana,50,17,VamP 50.17,yasmin dvijendrāḥ śrutiśāstravarjitāḥ samatvamāyānti pitāmahena sakṛt pitṛn yatra ca saṃprapūjya bhaktyā tvananyena hi cetasaiva phalaṃ mahāmedhamakhasya mānavā labhantyanantyaṃ bhagavatprasādāt,यस्मिन् द्विजेन्द्राः श्रुतिशास्त्रवर्जिताः समत्वमायान्ति पितामहेन सकृत् पितृन् यत्र च संप्रपूज्य भक्त्या त्वनन्येन हि चेतसैव फलं महामेधमखस्य मानवा लभन्त्यनन्त्यं भगवत्प्रसादात्,Saromahatmiya,Tirtha Mahima / Pitṛ-tarpaṇa and Yajña-phala,Adhyaya 50 (Tīrtha-māhātmya centered on Mahānadī and its salvific rites),17,yasmin dvijendrāḥ śrutiśāstravarjitāḥ samatvamāyānti pitāmahena sakṛt pitṛn yatra ca saṃprapūjya bhaktyā tvananyena hi cetasaiva phalaṃ mahāmedhamakhasya mānavā labhantyanantyaṃ bhagavatprasādāt,yasmin dvijendrāḥ śruti-śāstra-varjitāḥ samatvam āyānti pitāmahena sakṛt | pitṝn yatra ca saṃprapūjya bhaktyā tv ananyena hi cetasā eva | phalaṃ mahāmedha-makhasya mānavā labhanty anantyaṃ bhagavat-prasādāt,In that place

Speakers

• Narrator voice within the Mahatmya (likely Pulastya → Nārada)

Primary Deities

• Vishnu

Key Themes

• Mythic etiology for a tirtha’s fame
• Viṣṇu’s subtle presence (avyakta) in sacred space
• Sin-destruction metaphor (axe vs. sin-tree)
• Name-theology: Gadādhara as a salvific epithet

Verse Rasa (Emotional Flavour)

{ "primaryRasa": "adbhuta", "secondaryRasa": "raudra", "rasaIntensity": 0, "emotionalArcPosition": "", "moodDescriptors": [] }

FAQs

Who is ‘Mahāmedha’ here—an actual sacrifice or a person?

The grammar presents Mahāmedha as a notorious individual (‘duryajanaḥ… khyātaḥ… prasiddhaḥ’). The name likely functions as an ironic sobriquet—‘Great Sacrifice’ borne by a sinful figure—setting up the contrast that Viṣṇu’s presence at the site cuts down great sin.

What does ‘avyakta-tanuḥ kha-mūrtimat’ imply about Viṣṇu at this place?

It describes a non-anthropomorphic, subtle manifestation: the Lord ‘dwells’ as an unmanifest presence, identified with space/sky. In Mahātmya literature this often signals that the tirtha itself is the body/field of the deity, not merely a temple icon.

Why is Viṣṇu called ‘Gadādhara’ in this context?

‘Gadādhara’ (mace-bearer) emphasizes protective, punitive power—appropriate to the metaphor of a sharp axe felling the ‘sin-tree’. The epithet frames the tirtha as a place where accumulated pāpa is decisively destroyed by Hari’s might.