Vamana Purana — Karmic Causes of Narakas, Shloka 46
Karmic Causes of Narakas and the Irremediability of Ingratitude (Kṛtaghna-doṣa)
नदीषु गङ्गा जलजेषु पद्मं सुरारिमुख्येषु हराङ्घ्रिभक्तः क्षेत्रेषु यद्वत्कुरुजङ्गलं वरं तीर्थेषु यद्वत् प्रवरं पृथूदकम् // वम्प्_12.45 सरस्सु चैवोत्तरमानसं यथा वनेषु पुण्येषु हि नन्दनं यथा लोकेषु यद्वत्सदनं विरिञ्चेः सत्यं यथा धर्मविधिक्रियासु
nadīṣu gaṅgā jalajeṣu padmaṃ surārimukhyeṣu harāṅghribhaktaḥ kṣetreṣu yadvatkurujaṅgalaṃ varaṃ tīrtheṣu yadvat pravaraṃ pṛthūdakam // VamP_12.45 sarassu caivottaramānasaṃ yathā vaneṣu puṇyeṣu hi nandanaṃ yathā lokeṣu yadvatsadanaṃ viriñceḥ satyaṃ yathā dharmavidhikriyāsu
كما أنّ نهرَ الغانغا (Gaṅgā) هو الأوّل بين الأنهار، واللوتس هو الأسمى بين ما يولد من الماء؛ وكما أنّ العابدَ عند قدمي هارا (Hara، شيفا) هو الأبرز بين قادة أعداء الآلهة؛ وكما أنّ كورو جانغالا (Kurujāṅgala) أَفْضَلُ البقاع المقدّسة، وبِرِثُودَكَ (Pṛthūdaka) أَشْرَفُ التيرثات (tīrtha)؛ وكما أنّ أوتّرامانَسَ (Uttaramānasa) أرفعُ البحيرات، ونندَنَ (Nandana) أقدسُ الغابات؛ وكما أنّ مقامَ فيرينتشي (Viriñci، براهما) أسمى العوالم؛ وكما أنّ الصدقَ هو الأسمى في الطقوس الجارية وفق الدharma—فكذلك يُفهم الممدوحُ على أنّه المتقدّم الأعلى.
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FAQs
Pilgrimage and sacred-place valuation are not merely geographic: the culminating comparison—‘Truth in dharmic rites’—asserts that satya is the highest purifier within religious practice. The tīrtha catalogue thus points beyond place to conduct: the fruit of tīrtha is stabilized by truthfulness and right performance (dharma-vidhi).
Best classified under didactic material supporting Manvantara/cosmology through sacred geography (kṣetra/tīrtha listings) and dharma instruction. It is not a direct sarga/pratisarga account, but belongs to the Purāṇic function of mapping the sacred world and prescribing value-hierarchies for practice.
The ‘best-of’ chain sacralizes Kurujāṅgala and Pṛthūdaka by placing them in a universal hierarchy (rivers→tīrthas→worlds→virtues). The inclusion of ‘Hara’s-foot devotee’ among asura-chiefs hints at Purāṇic complexity: even adversarial lineages can be ennobled by bhakti to Śiva, reinforcing the text’s non-sectarian ethos where devotion (to Hara) is honored within a broader dhārmic and tīrtha framework.