Vamana Purana — Sin-Destroying Hymn (Part 1), Shloka 1

The Second Sin-Destroying Hymn (Pāpaśamana Stava) and the Syncretic Praise of Hari-Hara

Devanagari script

इति श्रीवामनपुराणे एकोनषष्टितमो ऽध्यायः पुलस्त्य उवाच नमस्ते ऽस्तु जगन्नाथ देवदेवं नमो ऽस्तु ते वासुदेव नमस्ते ऽस्तु बहुरूप नमो ऽस्तु ते

Transliteration

iti śrīvāmanapurāṇe ekonaṣaṣṭitamo 'dhyāyaḥ pulastya uvāca namaste 'stu jagannātha devadevaṃ namo 'stu te vāsudeva namaste 'stu bahurūpa namo 'stu te

Translation

এইদৰে শ্ৰী বামনপুৰাণৰ একোণষাঠিতম অধ্যায় সমাপ্ত হ’ল। পুলস্ত্য ক’লে— হে জগন্নাথ, আপোনাক নমস্কাৰ; হে দেবদেব, আপোনাক নমস্কাৰ। হে বাসুদেৱ, আপোনাক নমস্কাৰ; হে বহুৰূপ, আপোনাক নমস্কাৰ।

Speakers

• Pulastya to Nārada (narrative voice continues; direct address becomes a stuti to Vāsudeva)

Primary Deities

• Vishnu

Key Themes

• Textual colophon and transmission
• Devotional invocation
• Viṣṇu’s supremacy and manifold forms
• Continuity between tīrtha discourse and theology

Verse Rasa (Emotional Flavour)

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

FAQs

Why does the verse include a chapter colophon inside the running text?

Many Purāṇic recensions embed colophons (iti… adhyāyaḥ) as scribal/traditional markers of division and authority. Here it signals the closure of Adhyāya 59 and the transition into the next chapter’s discourse, while keeping the narrative voice (Pulastya) continuous.

What is the theological force of calling Vāsudeva ‘bahurūpa’ (multiform)?

It affirms that the one Lord manifests in many modes—cosmic, avatāric, and immanent. In the Vāmana Purāṇa’s broader frame, this epithet naturally accommodates Vāmana/Trivikrama and other forms without fragmenting divinity.

How does this transition relate to the Purāṇa’s geography emphasis?

Geographical sections (tīrtha-māhātmyas) are often punctuated by stutis and colophons: the sacred landscape is mapped not only by place-names but by liturgical speech that ‘activates’ the landscape’s merit. This verse is a hinge: it closes one mapped unit (Sarasvatī context) and opens the next with devotion.