Vamana Purana — Shukra's Curse on King Danda, Shloka 38

Shukra’s Curse on King Danda and Andhaka’s Challenge to Shiva

Devanagari script

तस्मादिमं समायाता तीर्थप्रवरमुत्तम् न चापि दृष्टः सुरथः स मनोह्लादनः पतिः

Transliteration

tasmādimaṃ samāyātā tīrthapravaramuttam na cāpi dṛṣṭaḥ surathaḥ sa manohlādanaḥ patiḥ

Translation

Darum bin ich zu diesem tīrtha gekommen, dem vortrefflichsten und vornehmsten der heiligen Furten. Doch Suratha—mein Gemahl, die Wonne meines Herzens—ist (hier) nicht erblickt worden.

Speakers

• A woman (unnamed here) speaking in a dialogue context (to an interlocutor who will question her in the next verse).

Key Themes

• Tirtha Yatra (pilgrimage)
• Viraha (separation) within pilgrimage narrative
• Seeking auspicious results (yātrā-phala)

Verse Rasa (Emotional Flavour)

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

FAQs

What does “tīrthapravaramuttamam” imply in a Purāṇic geography section?

It is a stock superlative used in tīrtha-māhātmya passages to mark a site as pre-eminent among pilgrimage places, preparing the listener for a statement of its special efficacy (merit, purification, boons). Here the specific site is clarified as Puṣkara in the following verse.

Who is Suratha in this context?

In these verses Suratha functions as a proper name for the speaker’s husband. The line emphasizes personal distress (the husband not being found) within a pilgrimage setting, a common narrative device to introduce a backstory and the ‘fruit’ (phala) of the tīrtha.

Is any deity directly invoked in this verse?

No deity is named here; the verse is narrative and locative, focusing on arrival at a foremost tīrtha and the absence of the husband. Deity-specific framing typically appears either earlier in the chapter’s tīrtha praise or later in the account of the pilgrimage’s result.