Vamana Purana — Structure of Jambudvipa, Shloka 46

The Structure of Jambudvipa: Nine Varshas, Navadvipa Bharata, Mountains, Rivers, and Peoples

Devanagari script

माला मगधगोनन्दाः प्राच्य नजपदास्त्विमे पुण्ड्राश्च केरलाश्चैव चौडाः कुल्याश्च राक्षस

Transliteration

mālā magadhagonandāḥ prācya najapadāstvime puṇḍrāśca keralāścaiva cauḍāḥ kulyāśca rākṣasa

Translation

These are the peoples and kingdoms: the Mālā, the Magadha and the Gonanda people; the Prācya and these Najapadas; also the Puṇḍras and the Keralas, the Cauḍas, the Kulyas, and the Rākṣasas.

Word by Word

• mālāḥ: the Mālā people
• mālāḥ: Karta (कर्ता/Subject)
• Type: Noun
• Root: mālā (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Strīliṅga (feminine), Prathamā vibhakti (Nominative/1st), Bahuvacana (plural)

• magadha-gonandāḥ: Magadhas and Gonandas
• magadha-gonandāḥ: Karta (कर्ता/Subject)
• Type: Noun
• Root: magadha + gonanda (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Puṃliṅga (masculine), Prathamā (Nominative/1st), Bahuvacana (plural)

• prācyāḥ: the Easterners (Prācyas)
• prācyāḥ: Karta (कर्ता/Subject)
• Type: Noun
• Root: prācya (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Puṃliṅga (masculine), Prathamā (Nominative/1st), Bahuvacana (plural)

• naja-padāḥ: the Naja-padas (a people/region)
• naja-padāḥ: Karta (कर्ता/Subject)
• Type: Noun
• Root: naja + pada (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Puṃliṅga (masculine), Prathamā (Nominative/1st), Bahuvacana (plural)

• tu: and/indeed/but
• tu: Sambandha (सम्बन्ध/Discourse particle)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: tu (अव्यय)
• Form: Avyaya; particle (nipāta) expressing contrast/emphasis

• ime: these
• ime: Karta (कर्ता/Subject)
• Type: Noun
• Root: idam (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Sarvanāma (pronoun), Puṃliṅga (masculine), Prathamā (Nominative/1st), Bahuvacana (plural)

• puṇḍrāḥ: Puṇḍras
• puṇḍrāḥ: Karta (कर्ता/Subject)
• Type: Noun
• Root: puṇḍra (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Puṃliṅga, Prathamā, Bahuvacana

• ca: and
• ca: Sambandha (सम्बन्ध/Connector)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: ca (अव्यय)
• Form: Avyaya; conjunction (samuccaya)

• keralāḥ: Keralas
• keralāḥ: Karta (कर्ता/Subject)
• Type: Noun
• Root: kerala (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Puṃliṅga, Prathamā, Bahuvacana

• ca: and
• ca: Sambandha (सम्बन्ध/Connector)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: ca (अव्यय)
• Form: Avyaya; conjunction

• eva: indeed/also
• eva: Sambandha (सम्बन्ध/Emphasis)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: eva (अव्यय)
• Form: Avyaya; emphatic particle (avadhāraṇa)

• cauḍāḥ: Cauḍas
• cauḍāḥ: Karta (कर्ता/Subject)
• Type: Noun
• Root: cauḍa (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Puṃliṅga, Prathamā, Bahuvacana

• kulyāḥ: Kulyas
• kulyāḥ: Karta (कर्ता/Subject)
• Type: Noun
• Root: kulya (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Puṃliṅga, Prathamā, Bahuvacana

• ca: and
• ca: Sambandha (सम्बन्ध/Connector)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: ca (अव्यय)
• Form: Avyaya; conjunction

• rākṣasa: O Rākṣasa (O demon)
• rākṣasa: Sambodhana (सम्बोधन/Vocative address)
• Type: Noun
• Root: rākṣasa (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Puṃliṅga, Sambodhana vibhakti (Vocative/8th), Ekavacana (singular)

Speakers

• Not specified in input (Vamana Purana commonly frames as Pulastya to Narada; unconfirmed for this verse)

Key Themes

• Sacred Geography
• Ethnography/Polity (Janapadas)
• Puranic Catalogues

Verse Rasa (Emotional Flavour)

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

FAQs

What is the philosophical or ethical takeaway?

The verse functions primarily as a catalog, emphasizing the Purāṇic vision of Bhārata as a vast, multi-regional sacred-cultural space rather than delivering a direct moral injunction.

How does this fit the Pancalakshana?

This aligns most closely with material used in Vaṃśānucarita/Manvantara-style geographical-ethnographic descriptions that accompany dynastic and world-order narrations (not sarga/pratisarga proper, but typical ancillary Purāṇic cataloguing).

What is the symbolic significance?

By enumerating diverse peoples—including liminal groups like ‘Rākṣasas’—the text symbolically maps a comprehensive world where all regions and beings fall within a single cosmic and dharmic geography.