Vamana Purana — Shiva's Kedara Tirtha, Shloka 66
Shiva’s Kedara-Tirtha and the Rise of Mura: From Shaiva Pilgrimage to Vaishnava Theology
नारद उवाच कथं शुक्लं कथं शान्तमप्रतर्क्यमनिन्दितम् कान्यस्य द्वादशैवोक्ता पत्रका तानि मे वद
nārada uvāca kathaṃ śuklaṃ kathaṃ śāntamapratarkyamaninditam kānyasya dvādaśaivoktā patrakā tāni me vada
Nārada said: “In what sense is it called ‘pure’, and in what sense ‘tranquil’—beyond reasoning and blameless? And which twelve ‘petals’ have been declared to belong to it? Tell me those.”
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FAQs
Because these are not merely adjectives but technical descriptors of the supreme: ‘śukla’ implies absolute purity (no karmic admixture), and ‘śānta’ implies complete cessation of agitation (beyond guṇic disturbance). Nārada seeks the doctrinal rationale behind the epithets.
‘Anindita’ emphasizes perfection and irreproachability: the supreme is not only beyond thought and speech but also beyond defect, limitation, or moral/theological criticism—an assertion of absolute auspiciousness (nirdoṣatva).
Most plausibly a list of twelve names/forms of Viṣṇu (a common Purāṇic enumeration) mapped onto a lotus/mandala metaphor. The verse functions as a prompt for a structured catalog—useful both for theology and for ritual/meditative visualization.