Vamana Purana — Jabali on the Banyan Tree, Shloka 39
Jabali Bound on the Banyan Tree and Nandayanti’s Appeal at Sri-Kantha on the Yamuna
विश्वकर्णसुता साध्वी नाम्ना चित्राङ्गदाभवत् रूपयौवनसंपन्ना पद्महीनेव पद्मिनी
viśvakarṇasutā sādhvī nāmnā citrāṅgadābhavat rūpayauvanasaṃpannā padmahīneva padminī
كانت ابنةُ فيشفَكَرْنَ (Viśvakarṇa) امرأةً صالحةً عفيفة تُدعى تشِترانغَدَا (Citrāṅgadā)، موفورةَ الجمالِ والشباب—كغديرِ لوتسٍ خلا من أزهارِ اللوتس.
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FAQs
The simile is deliberately paradoxical: a padminī is defined by lotuses, yet here it is ‘lotus-less.’ The intent is to suggest an extraordinary beauty that exceeds ordinary categories—she is like the very locus of beauty, even if the usual markers (lotuses) are absent.
Not necessarily. In Purāṇic usage, sādhvī can denote moral excellence and chastity as a personal quality, whether maiden or wife. The subsequent narrative typically tests or displays such virtue in a tīrtha-context.
The patronymic anchors the heroine in a recognized lineage and lends narrative legitimacy. In Purāṇic storytelling, such identifiers often foreshadow a dharmic or royal connection that will unfold at the tīrtha.