Vamana Purana — Nara-Narayana's Tapas, Shloka 20

Nara-Narayana’s Tapas, Indra’s Temptation, and the Burning of Kama: The Origin of Ananga and the Shiva-Linga Episode

Devanagari script

बर्हिवृन्दकलापा च सारसस्वरनूपुरा प्राग्वंशरसना ब्रह्मन् मत्तहंसगतिस्तथा

Transliteration

barhivṛndakalāpā ca sārasasvaranūpurā prāgvaṃśarasanā brahman mattahaṃsagatistathā

Translation

كانت تلك الأرض مزدانة بعناقيد من الطواويس؛ وفي نداءات الكُرْكِيّات كأن رنين خلاخيل يُسمَع. يا براهمن، كانت مُتَحَزِّمَةً ببساتين الخيزران في الشرق، ولها كذلك مشية رشيقة كمشية الإوزّ السابح في نشوة.

Word by Word

• बर्हि-वृन्द-कलापा: having a plume/cluster like a mass of peacock-feathers
• बर्हि-वृन्द-कलापा: विशेषण
• Type: Adjective
• Root: बर्हि (प्रातिपदिक) + वृन्द (प्रातिपदिक) + कलाप (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचन; बहुव्रीहिः—यस्या कलापः बर्हिवृन्दसदृशः

• च: and
• च: सम्बन्ध
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: च (अव्यय)
• Form: समुच्चयबोधक अव्यय (conjunction)

• सारस-स्वर-नूपुरा: whose anklets sound like cranes
• सारस-स्वर-नूपुरा: विशेषण
• Type: Adjective
• Root: सारस (प्रातिपदिक) + स्वर (प्रातिपदिक) + नूपुर (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचन; बहुव्रीहिः—यस्या नूपुरयोः स्वरः सारसस्वरवत्

• प्राग्वंश-रसना: having a girdle of prāgvaṃśa (a kind of reed/bamboo)
• प्राग्वंश-रसना: विशेषण
• Type: Adjective
• Root: प्राग्वंश (प्रातिपदिक) + रसना (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचन; बहुव्रीहिः—यस्या रसना (कटिबन्धः) प्राग्वंशनिर्मिता/प्राग्वंशसदृशी

• ब्रह्मन्: O Brahman
• ब्रह्मन्: सम्बोधन
• Type: Noun
• Root: ब्रह्मन् (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, सम्बोधन (8th/Vocative), एकवचन

• मत्त-हंस-गतिः: having a gait like an intoxicated swan
• मत्त-हंस-गतिः: विशेषण
• Type: Adjective
• Root: मत्त (प्रातिपदिक) + हंस (प्रातिपदिक) + गति (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचन; बहुव्रीहिः—यस्या गतिः मत्तहंसगमनवत्

• तथा: thus/also
• तथा: सम्बन्ध
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: तथा (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय; प्रकारवाचक/समुच्चयार्थे (adverb: ‘thus/also’)

Speakers

• Not explicit in provided excerpt (likely within the Purāṇic frame dialogue
• often Pulastya → Nārada)

Primary Deities

• Vishnu (Nārāyaṇa)

Key Themes

• Sacred Geography
• Āśrama-glorification
• Nature imagery
• Bhakti (through sanctified landscape)

Verse Rasa (Emotional Flavour)

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

FAQs

What is the philosophical or ethical takeaway?

The verse sacralizes the natural world: beauty, sound, and order in nature are presented as marks of a dhārmic, purified space fit for tapas and divine presence—encouraging reverence toward sacred landscapes rather than mere aesthetic enjoyment.

How does this fit the Pancalakshana?

Primarily within Vṛtti/Upabṛṃhaṇa material supporting tīrtha-māhātmya and dharma-pravacana; it is not sarga/pratisarga proper, but a sanctifying description that typically accompanies sacred geography and pilgrimage sections.

What is the symbolic significance?

Birds and their sounds function as auspicious markers: the ‘anklet-like’ crane-calls and ‘swan-gait’ metaphor encode the idea that the āśrama itself behaves like a divine, ornamented being—suggesting the presence of sattva and spiritual refinement.