Vamana Purana — Ritadhvaja Aids Galava, Shloka 12
Ritadhvaja’s Aid to Galava and Andhaka’s Infatuation with Gauri
पुलस्त्य उवाच विश्ववसोः शीलगुणोपपन्ना आसीत्पुरन्ध्रीषु वरा त्रिलोके लावण्यराशिः शशिकान्तितुल्या मदालसा नाम मदालसैव
pulastya uvāca viśvavasoḥ śīlaguṇopapannā āsītpurandhrīṣu varā triloke lāvaṇyarāśiḥ śaśikāntitulyā madālasā nāma madālasaiva
Pulastya said: Viśvavasu had a wife endowed with noble conduct and virtues, the foremost among women in the three worlds—a treasury of beauty, equal to the moon’s radiance. Her name was Madālasā, indeed Madālasā herself.
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FAQs
The verse explicitly couples beauty with ethical excellence: ‘śīla-guṇopapannā’ foregrounds conduct and virtues, while ‘lāvaṇya-rāśiḥ’ adds aesthetic praise. This pairing is a common Purāṇic technique to mark a character as both admirable and narratively significant.
‘Tri-loke’ universalizes the praise, presenting Madālasā as exemplary not only among humans but across cosmic realms. It elevates the narrative stakes and signals that her actions (or her role in lineage/events) will have broader significance.
No explicit toponyms appear here. This is a character-introduction verse; geographical specificity typically enters when the story shifts to journeys, encounters, or the establishment/mention of a tirtha connected to the episode.