Vamana Purana — Sukesha's Boon & Twelve Dharmas, Shloka 54

Sukesha’s Boon, the Twelve Dharmas of Beings, and the Cosmography of the Seven Dvipas with the Twenty-One Hells

Devanagari script

ततस्तु कालचक्रेति पञ्चमः परिगीयते अप्रतिष्ठं च नरकं घटीयन्त्रं च सप्तमम्

Transliteration

tatastu kālacakreti pañcamaḥ parigīyate apratiṣṭhaṃ ca narakaṃ ghaṭīyantraṃ ca saptamam

Translation

Dann wird der fünfte als Kāla-cakra („Rad der Zeit“) besungen. Ferner gibt es die Hölle namens Apratiṣṭha, und die siebte ist Ghaṭī-yantra.

Word by Word

• ततः: then
• ततः: सम्बन्ध/क्रम
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: तद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: अव्यय (ततः) = ‘then’

• तु: but/indeed
• तु: सम्बन्ध (particle)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: तु (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय; निपात (contrast/emphasis)

• काल-चक्र: Kālacakra (wheel of time)
• काल-चक्र: सम्बन्ध (name being cited)
• Type: Noun
• Root: काल (प्रातिपदिक) + चक्र (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा/द्वितीया (1st/2nd), एकवचन; नाम (as quoted)

• इति: thus/‘called’
• इति: सम्बन्ध (quotation marker)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: इति (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय; उद्धरण-चिह्न (quotative)

• पञ्चमः: the fifth
• पञ्चमः: कर्ता (as subject with परिगीयते)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: पञ्चम (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st), एकवचन; क्रमवाचक

• परिगीयते: is sung/celebrated (is called)
• परिगीयते: क्रिया (Verb)
• Type: Verb
• Root: √गै/√गी (धातु)
• Form: लट् (Present), प्रथमपुरुष, एकवचन; कर्मणि (passive)

• अ-प्रतिष्ठम्: Apratiṣṭha (the ‘unstable’ hell)
• अ-प्रतिष्ठम्: कर्म (Karma/कर्म) (object implied with ‘(is)’/listing)
• Type: Noun
• Root: अ (नञ्) + प्रतिष्ठ (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, द्वितीया (2nd/कर्म), एकवचन; नञ्-समास/नकारार्थ (negation)

• च: and
• च: समुच्चय
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: च (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय; समुच्चय

• नरकम्: hell
• नरकम्: अप्पोजिशन (apposition to अप्रतिष्ठम्)
• Type: Noun
• Root: नरक (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, द्वितीया (2nd), एकवचन; सामान्यनाम

• घटी-यन्त्रम्: Ghaṭīyantra (water-clock device)
• घटी-यन्त्रम्: कर्म (listed item)
• Type: Noun
• Root: घटी (प्रातिपदिक) + यन्त्र (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, द्वितीया (2nd), एकवचन; नाम

• च: and
• च: समुच्चय
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: च (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय; समुच्चय

• सप्तमम्: the seventh
• सप्तमम्: विशेषण (of घटीयन्त्रम्)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: सप्तम (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, द्वितीया (2nd), एकवचन; क्रमवाचक (agreeing with घटीयन्त्रम्)

Speakers

• Narrative frame not explicit in the provided excerpt (commonly Pulastya → Nārada in Vāmana Purāṇa); speaker uncertain from input

Key Themes

• Dharma
• Karma and retribution
• Afterlife cosmology
• Time as an agent of consequence

Verse Rasa (Emotional Flavour)

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

FAQs

What is the philosophical or ethical takeaway?

Time (kāla) is portrayed as inescapable: deeds mature inevitably into results. The naming of torments as mechanisms (cakra, yantra) underscores that karma operates with regularity—one cannot ‘bargain’ with consequences.

How does this fit the Pancalakshana?

Primarily dharma-upadeśa framed through cosmographic listing. It is not sarga/pratisarga in a creation-cycle sense, yet it uses cosmological taxonomy to inculcate ethical discipline.

What is the symbolic significance?

Kālacakra suggests cyclic, grinding inevitability—time ‘turns’ and crushes accumulated wrongdoing. Apratiṣṭha (‘no footing’) implies loss of stability/support (social, moral, inner). Ghaṭīyantra evokes measured, mechanical time—torment as precise, metered consequence.