Vamana Purana — Jabali on the Banyan Tree, Shloka 62

Jabali Bound on the Banyan Tree and Nandayanti’s Appeal at Sri-Kantha on the Yamuna

Devanagari script

महावने परिक्षिप्ता सिंहव्याघ्रभयाकुले एवं तस्याः स्वतन्त्राया एषावस्था श्रुता मया

Transliteration

mahāvane parikṣiptā siṃhavyāghrabhayākule evaṃ tasyāḥ svatantrāyā eṣāvasthā śrutā mayā

Translation

Cast into the Great Forest (Mahāvana), a place rife with fear of lions and tigers—such, as I have heard, was the condition of that independent woman.

Word by Word

• महावने: in the great forest
• महावने: Adhikarana (अधिकरण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: महावन (प्रातिपदिक; महत् + वन)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, सप्तमी (अधिकरण), एकवचन; Locative singular (7th case)

• परिक्षिप्ता: surrounded/encircled
• परिक्षिप्ता: Karta (कर्ता) / Predicate adjective of subject
• Type: Adjective
• Root: परि-क्षिप् (धातु) + क्त (कृदन्त)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचन; क्त-प्रत्ययान्त भूतकर्मणि/भूतकृदन्त; Past passive participle, nominative singular feminine

• सिंहव्याघ्रभयाकुले: in a place agitated by fear of lions and tigers
• सिंहव्याघ्रभयाकुले: Adhikarana (अधिकरण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: सिंह + व्याघ्र + भय + आकुल (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, सप्तमी, एकवचन; Locative singular; (भयेन आकुलम्) with सिंह-व्याघ्र as determiners

• एवम्: thus; in this way
• एवम्: Sambandha/Prakaraṇa (सम्बन्ध/प्रकार)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: एवम् (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय; प्रकारवाचक क्रियाविशेषण (adverb of manner)

• तस्याः: of her
• तस्याः: Sambandha (सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Noun
• Root: तद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, षष्ठी (सम्बन्ध), एकवचन; Genitive singular feminine

• स्वतन्त्रायाः: (of her) independent/free
• स्वतन्त्रायाः: Sambandha (सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: स्वतन्त्र (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, षष्ठी, एकवचन; Genitive singular feminine; qualifying तस्याः

• एषा: this
• एषा: Karta (कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: एतद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचन; Nominative singular feminine

• अवस्था: condition/state
• अवस्था: Karta (कर्ता) / Apposition to एषा
• Type: Noun
• Root: अवस्था (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचन; Nominative singular feminine

• श्रुता: was heard
• श्रुता: Karma (कर्म) with passive sense; predicate
• Type: Verb
• Root: श्रु (धातु) + क्त (कृदन्त)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचन; क्त-प्रत्ययान्त भूतकर्मणि; Past passive participle used predicatively (‘was heard’)

• मया: by me
• मया: Karana (करण) / Agent in passive (कर्तृकरण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: अस्मद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुं/स्त्री (उभयलिङ्ग-प्रयोग), तृतीया (करण), एकवचन; Instrumental singular

Speakers

• Narrator reporting tradition (‘śrutā mayā’) to a king

Key Themes

• Tirtha Mahima
• Perilous sacred landscapes (vana)
• Narrative authentication via oral tradition (śrutā mayā)

Verse Rasa (Emotional Flavour)

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

FAQs

What is ‘Mahāvana’ in Purāṇic geography?

‘Mahāvana’ functions as a named forest-region within the pilgrimage landscape. Such forests are often liminal zones—dangerous yet spiritually potent—where ordeals occur and where tirtha traditions anchor local sacred memory.

How should ‘svatantrāyāḥ’ be understood here?

It can mean ‘independent’ or ‘acting on her own initiative,’ highlighting that her predicament unfolds in connection with her own movement/choices, even as fate (bhāvya) and sacred geography shape the outcome.

Why does the narrator say ‘śrutā mayā’ (I have heard)?

It is a Purāṇic marker of transmitted authority: the speaker frames the account as received tradition, situating the episode within an established chain of sacred narration rather than personal invention.