Vamana Purana — Akhanda Ekadashi Vrata, Shloka 29

Akhaṇḍa-Ekādaśī Vrata and the Vaiṣṇava Protective Hymn; Prelude to the Kātyāyanī–Mahiṣāsura Narrative

Devanagari script

मुसलं शातनं गृह्य पुण्डरीकाक्ष रक्ष माम उत्तरस्यां जगन्नाथ भवन्तं शरणं गतः

Transliteration

musalaṃ śātanaṃ gṛhya puṇḍarīkākṣa rakṣa māma uttarasyāṃ jagannātha bhavantaṃ śaraṇaṃ gataḥ

Translation

Taking up the club (musala) named Śātana, O Puṇḍarīkākṣa, Lotus-eyed One, protect me. In the northern direction, O Jagannātha, I have come to You for refuge.

Word by Word

• musalam: club / pestle (weapon)
• musalam: Karma (कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: musala (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Neuter, Accusative, Singular

• śātanam: Śātana (name/epithet)
• śātanam: Karma (कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: śātana (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Neuter, Accusative, Singular; epithet/name (likely of the musala)

• gṛhya: having taken / taking up
• gṛhya: Kriyāviśeṣaṇa (क्रियाविशेषण)
• Type: Verb
• Root: grah (धातु) + lyap (ल्यप्)
• Form: Absolutive/Gerund (ल्यपन्त)

• puṇḍarīkākṣa: O Lotus-eyed one
• puṇḍarīkākṣa: Sambodhana (सम्बोधन)
• Type: Noun
• Root: puṇḍarīka + akṣa (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Masculine, Vocative, Singular; bahuvrīhi: puṇḍarīke iva akṣī yasya (whose eyes are like lotuses)

• rakṣa: protect
• rakṣa: Kriyā (क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: rakṣ (धातु)
• Form: Loṭ (imperative), 2nd person, Singular, Parasmaipada

• mām: me
• mām: Karma (कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: asmad (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Sarvanāma, Accusative, Singular

• uttarasyām: in the north
• uttarasyām: Adhikaraṇa (अधिकरण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: uttarā (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Feminine, Locative, Singular (direction)

• jagannātha: O Lord of the world
• jagannātha: Sambodhana (सम्बोधन)
• Type: Noun
• Root: jagat + nātha (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Masculine, Vocative, Singular; tatpuruṣa: jagataḥ nāthaḥ (lord of the world)

• bhavantam: you (honored one)
• bhavantam: Karma (कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: bhavat (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Honorific pronoun, Masculine, Accusative, Singular

• śaraṇam: refuge
• śaraṇam: Karma (कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: śaraṇa (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Neuter, Accusative, Singular

• gataḥ: having gone (for refuge)
• gataḥ: Karta (कर्ता)
• Type: Verb
• Root: gam (धातु) + kta (क्त)
• Form: Past active participle, Masculine, Nominative, Singular; subject understood ‘aham’

Speakers

• Unspecified in provided excerpt; verse is a direct devotional address to Viṣṇu

Primary Deities

• Vishnu

Key Themes

• Vaishnavism
• Bhakti
• Protective prayer
• Directional guardianship (dik-raksha)
• Refuge (śaraṇāgati)

Verse Rasa (Emotional Flavour)

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

FAQs

What is the philosophical or ethical takeaway?

The devotee’s repeated confession—‘I have taken refuge’—models humility and constancy: protection is requested not as entitlement but as grace grounded in surrender.

How does this fit the Pancalakshana?

As with many Purāṇas, liturgical and practical inserts accompany the core topics; this functions as upāsanā/ācāra (devotional practice) embedded in the narrative, adjacent to but not itself a sarga/pratisarga account.

What is the symbolic significance?

The mace signifies the Lord’s capacity to subdue disorder and inner enemies (pramāda, adharma). Placing it in the ‘north’ sacralizes the devotee’s spatial horizon as guarded by divine sovereignty.