Vamana Purana — Nakshatra-Purusha Vrata, Shloka 11

The Nakshatra-Purusha Vrata: Worship of Vishnu’s Body as the Constellations

Devanagari script

पुलस्त्य उवाच श्रूयतां कथयिष्यामि कथां पापुप्रणाशिनीम् पूर्वं त्रेतायुगस्यादौ यथावृत्तं तपोधन

Transliteration

pulastya uvāca śrūyatāṃ kathayiṣyāmi kathāṃ pāpupraṇāśinīm pūrvaṃ tretāyugasyādau yathāvṛttaṃ tapodhana

Translation

Pulastya said: “Listen; I shall relate a sin-destroying narrative—how it occurred formerly, at the beginning of the Tretā age, O treasure of austerity.”

Speakers

• Pulastya speaking (traditionally) to Nārada (addressed as tapodhana)

Primary Deities

• Not specified in this verse

Key Themes

• Purāṇic narration and authority (ṛṣi-vākya)
• Sin-destruction through hearing (śravaṇa-phala)
• Yuga-setting (Tretā-yuga chronology)

Verse Rasa (Emotional Flavour)

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

FAQs

Why does the text emphasize “hearing” (śrūyatām) as the opening instruction?

In Purāṇic discourse, śravaṇa (devotional hearing) is itself a sādhanā: the narrative is presented as pāpa-praṇāśinī, implying that attentive reception of a tīrtha- or dharma-linked account yields purification even before any physical pilgrimage.

What is the function of specifying “at the beginning of Tretā-yuga”?

The yuga-marker situates the episode in a mythic-historical frame, lending antiquity and normative weight. It also signals that the forthcoming geography and its sanctity are rooted in primordial time, not merely later human convention.

Who is “tapodhana” here?

Tapodhana is an honorific (“one whose wealth is tapas”) commonly used for sages; in the Pulastya–Nārada dialogue pattern, it typically addresses Nārada as the listener, though the epithet can apply to any ascetic interlocutor in the transmission chain.