Shloka 30
Matsya Purana — Genealogy and Classification of Sacred Fires
पिबन्नपः स वसति समुद्रे वडवामुखे समुद्रवासिनः पुत्रः सहरक्षो विभाव्यते //
pibannapaḥ sa vasati samudre vaḍavāmukhe samudravāsinaḥ putraḥ saharakṣo vibhāvyate //
Drinking up the waters, he dwells in the ocean at the Mare’s-mouth, Vaḍavāmukha; he is understood as the son of the ocean-dweller and is conceived as attended by protective powers.
FAQs
By describing a being at Vaḍavāmukha that “drinks the waters,” the verse evokes a cosmic mechanism associated with regulating or consuming oceanic waters—an image often linked to the balancing forces that can also figure in dissolution (pralaya) motifs.
Indirectly, it frames the world as governed by protective and regulating forces (saha-rakṣaḥ). In Purāṇic ethics, kingship and household life mirror this principle: maintaining order, protection, and restraint so the social ‘waters’ do not overflow into disorder.
No direct Vāstu or temple rule is stated, but Vaḍavāmukha functions as a cosmological ‘fiery mouth’ in the ocean—useful in ritual-cosmology mapping where directions, elements (water/fire), and protective forces are invoked for consecrations and protective rites.