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
Wie die Gaṅgā unter den Flüssen die Erste ist, und der Lotos unter den im Wasser Geborenen; wie der Verehrer zu den Füßen Haras (Śivas) unter den führenden Häuptern der Feinde der Götter hervorragt; wie Kurujāṅgala unter den heiligen Regionen (kṣetra) vorzüglich ist, und Pṛthūdaka unter den tīrtha den Vorrang hat; wie Uttaramānasa unter den Seen das Höchste ist, und Nandana unter den heiligen Wäldern; wie die Wohnstatt Viriñcis (Brahmās) unter den Welten die höchste ist; und wie die Wahrheit in den nach dem Dharma vollzogenen Riten den Vorrang hat—so ist auch das Gepriesene als das Vorzügliche zu verstehen.
{ "primaryRasa": "shanta", "secondaryRasa": "adbhuta", "rasaIntensity": 0, "emotionalArcPosition": "", "moodDescriptors": [] }
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.