Vamana Purana — Shukra's Curse on King Danda, Shloka 19

Shukra’s Curse on King Danda and Andhaka’s Challenge to Shiva

Devanagari script

गालवो ऽपि समं ताभ्यां कन्यकाभ्यामवातरत् स्नातुं स पुष्करे तीर्थे मध्यमे धनुषाकृतौ

Transliteration

gālavo 'pi samaṃ tābhyāṃ kanyakābhyāmavātarat snātuṃ sa puṣkare tīrthe madhyame dhanuṣākṛtau

Translation

Galava also descended together with those two maidens, in order to bathe at the sacred ford (tīrtha) of Puṣkara—at the Middle Puṣkara, shaped like a bow.

Speakers

• Narrator voice (Purāṇic narrator continuing the Pushkara episode)

Primary Deities

• Brahma (implied by Puṣkara sanctity)
• Vishnu (general tīrtha framework, not explicit)
• Shiva (general tīrtha framework, not explicit)

Key Themes

• Tirtha Yatra (pilgrimage)
• Snāna (ritual bathing)
• Sacred geography and micro-topography of Puṣkara
• Merit of bathing at designated sub-tīrthas

Verse Rasa (Emotional Flavour)

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

FAQs

What is meant by ‘Madhyama Puṣkara’ in this verse?

Puṣkara is presented as a complex sacred landscape with internal divisions; ‘Madhyama’ denotes the ‘Middle Puṣkara’—a specific sector/sub-tīrtha within the Puṣkara pilgrimage field, distinguished from other Puṣkara locales (e.g., ‘Ādi’/‘Jyeṣṭha’/‘Kaniṣṭha’ patterns found in tīrtha traditions).

Why does the text specify the tīrtha’s shape as ‘dhanuṣākṛti’ (bow-shaped)?

Purāṇic tīrtha descriptions often preserve local topography and ritual mapping. The bow-shape functions as a geographic identifier (how the basin/shoreline is perceived) and as a sacral marker, helping pilgrims locate the correct bathing spot and understand its distinctiveness within Puṣkara.

Is this verse primarily theological or geographical?

Both, but the emphasis here is geographical-ritual: it anchors the narrative in a precisely named sub-site (Madhyama Puṣkara) and frames the action as tīrtha-snāna, a key ritual act through which merit (puṇya) is generated.