Vamana Purana — Rudra's Wrath & Kalarupa, Shloka 51

Rudra’s Wrath at Daksha’s Sacrifice and the Iconography of Kālarūpa through the Zodiac

Devanagari script

कर्किः कुलीरेण समः सलिलस्थः प्रकीर्तितः केदारवापीपुलिने विविक्तावनिरेव च

Transliteration

karkiḥ kulīreṇa samaḥ salilasthaḥ prakīrtitaḥ kedāravāpīpuline viviktāvanireva ca

Translation

يُوصَف الكاركي (karki) بأنه كالسَّرَطان، ساكنٌ في الماء؛ ويُوجَد أيضًا على ضفّة بركة كيدارا (Kedāra)، على الشاطئ الرملي، وكذلك في أرضٍ منعزلةٍ هادئة.

Word by Word

• कर्किः: Karki (crab-like being/name)
• कर्किः: Karta (कर्ता/Subject)
• Type: Noun
• Root: कर्कि (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st/प्रथमा), एकवचन

• कुलीरेण: with/by a crab
• कुलीरेण: Karana/Upamana (करण/उपमान)
• Type: Noun
• Root: कुलीर (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, तृतीया (3rd/तृतीया), एकवचन

• समः: equal/similar
• समः: Visheshana (विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: सम (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st/प्रथमा), एकवचन

• सलिलस्थः: situated in water
• सलिलस्थः: Visheshana (विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: सलिल (प्रातिपदिक) + स्थ (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st/प्रथमा), एकवचन; सप्तमी-तत्पुरुषः (सलिले स्थितः)

• प्रकीर्तितः: is proclaimed/said
• प्रकीर्तितः: Kriya (क्रिया/Predicate)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: प्र + कीर्त् (धातु) + क्त (कृदन्त)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st/प्रथमा), एकवचन; क्त-प्रत्ययान्त (is proclaimed)

• केदार: field/plot
• केदार: Samasa-anga (समासाङ्ग)
• Type: Noun
• Root: केदार (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रातिपदिक-समासाङ्ग

• वापी: pond/tank
• वापी: Samasa-anga (समासाङ्ग)
• Type: Noun
• Root: वापी (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रातिपदिक-समासाङ्ग

• पुलिने: on/at fields, ponds, and sandbanks
• पुलिने: Adhikarana (अधिकरण/Locative)
• Type: Noun
• Root: पुलिन (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, सप्तमी (7th/सप्तमी), एकवचन; इतरेतर-द्वन्द्वः (केदार + वापी + पुलिन)

• विविक्त: secluded
• विविक्त: Samasa-anga (समासाङ्ग)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: विविक्त (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रातिपदिक-समासाङ्ग

• अवनिः: (in) a secluded place/ground
• अवनिः: Adhikarana (अधिकरण/Locative)
• Type: Noun
• Root: अवनि (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st/प्रथमा), एकवचन; कर्मधारयः (विविक्ता अवनिः)

• एव: indeed/only
• एव: Sambandha-bodhaka (सम्बन्धसूचक)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: एव (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय; अवधारणार्थक-निपात (emphatic particle)

• च: and
• च: Samuccaya (समुच्चय)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: च (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय; समुच्चयार्थक-निपात (conjunction)

Speakers

• Pulastya to Nārada (typical narrative frame of Vāmana Purāṇa; not explicit in provided excerpt)

Key Themes

• Sacred Geography
• Tirtha Mahatmya
• Natural Description (flora/fauna)
• Pilgrimage Topography

Verse Rasa (Emotional Flavour)

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

FAQs

What is the philosophical or ethical takeaway?

The passage functions less as moral instruction and more as a tirtha-topographical note: sacred places are mapped through observable features (banks, ponds, creatures), guiding pilgrims to identify locales correctly.

How does this fit the Pancalakshana?

This aligns most closely with ancillary purāṇic material rather than the five classical lakṣaṇas; within the broader purāṇic taxonomy it belongs to kṣetra-māhātmya/tīrtha-prasaṃśā (place-glorification) and descriptive geography.

What is the symbolic significance?

Water-and-shore liminality (salila + pulina) symbolically marks thresholds—common in tīrtha literature—where purification and transition are emphasized; the creature’s habitat helps encode the landscape as a mnemonic for sacred navigation.