Vamana Purana — Jabali on the Banyan Tree, Shloka 40
Jabali Bound on the Banyan Tree and Nandayanti’s Appeal at Sri-Kantha on the Yamuna
सा कदाचिन्महारण्यं सखीभिः परिवारिता जगाम नेमिषं नाम स्नातुं कमललोचना
sā kadācinmahāraṇyaṃ sakhībhiḥ parivāritā jagāma nemiṣaṃ nāma snātuṃ kamalalocanā
একদা সেই পদ্মনয়না নারী সখীদের পরিবেষ্টিত হয়ে স্নানার্থে নেমিষ নামক মহারণ্যে গমন করল।
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FAQs
Nemiṣa (commonly Naimiṣāraṇya) is a famed sacred forest-region, repeatedly described as a seat of ṛṣis and long sacrificial gatherings. In māhātmya passages it functions as a tīrtha-zone where acts like snāna, dāna, and japa yield amplified merit.
Snāna is both physical and ritual purification. In Purāṇic tīrtha-literature it marks entry into sacred space, prepares one for vows or worship, and often becomes the narrative hinge where encounters, boons, or tests of dharma occur.
Both senses can operate: it is a large forest, yet sacralized by ascetic presence and ritual memory. Purāṇas frequently portray such forests as ‘civilized’ by dharma—through hermitages, yajñas, and tīrtha-sites.