Vamana Purana — Nara-Narayana's Tapas, Shloka 4

Nara-Narayana’s Tapas, Indra’s Temptation, and the Burning of Kama: The Origin of Ananga and the Shiva-Linga Episode

Devanagari script

प्रालेयाद्रिं समागम्य तीर्थे बदरिकाश्रमे गृमन्तौ तत्परं ब्रह्म गङ्गाया विपुले तटे

Transliteration

prāleyādriṃ samāgamya tīrthe badarikāśrame gṛmantau tatparaṃ brahma gaṅgāyā vipule taṭe

Translation

Parvenus à la montagne enneigée (Himālaya) et au gué sacré de Badarikāśrama, ils y demeurèrent, tournés vers le Brahman suprême, sur la vaste rive du Gaṅgā.

Word by Word

• प्रालेयाद्रिम्: the Prāleya mountain (snowy mountain)
• प्रालेयाद्रिम्: Karma (कर्म/Object of motion)
• Type: Noun
• Root: प्रालेय + अद्रि (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, द्वितीया (2nd/Accusative), एकवचन; कर्मधारय-समास (snowy mountain)

• समागम्य: having reached
• समागम्य: Purvakala (पूर्वकाल/Anterior action)
• Type: Verb
• Root: सम् + आ + गम् (धातु)
• Form: क्त्वान्त (absolutive/gerund), अव्ययभाव; ‘having reached/approached’

• तीर्थे: at the sacred ford/place
• तीर्थे: Adhikarana (अधिकरण/Location)
• Type: Noun
• Root: तीर्थ (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, सप्तमी (7th/Locative), एकवचन

• बदरिकाश्रमे: in the Badarikā hermitage
• बदरिकाश्रमे: Adhikarana (अधिकरण/Location)
• Type: Noun
• Root: बदरिक + आश्रम (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, सप्तमी (7th/Locative), एकवचन; षष्ठी-तत्पुरुष (badarikāyāḥ āśramaḥ)

• गृमन्तौ: the two (mountain-)dwellers / the two ascetics
• गृमन्तौ: Karta (कर्ता/Subject-apposition)
• Type: Noun
• Root: गृमन्त (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st/Nominative), द्विवचन; (पाठभेद/रूपभेद सम्भवः—अर्थतः ‘गिरिमन्तौ/गिरिमन्तौ’ इव ‘mountain-dwellers’; here taken as a dual epithet of the two sages)

• तत्परम्: devoted to that (supreme)
• तत्परम्: Visheshana (विशेषण/Qualifier)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: तत् + पर (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, द्वितीया (2nd/Accusative), एकवचन; तत्पुरुष (tasmin param = devoted to that)

• ब्रह्म: Brahman, the Absolute
• ब्रह्म: Karma (कर्म/Object)
• Type: Noun
• Root: ब्रह्मन् (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, द्वितीया (2nd/Accusative), एकवचन

• गङ्गायाः: of the Gaṅgā
• गङ्गायाः: Sambandha (सम्बन्ध/Genitive relation)
• Type: Noun
• Root: गङ्गा (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, षष्ठी (6th/Genitive), एकवचन

• विपुले: broad, extensive
• विपुले: Adhikarana (अधिकरण/Location-qualifier)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: विपुल (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, सप्तमी (7th/Locative), एकवचन; विशेषण (qualifying तटे)

• तटे: on the bank
• तटे: Adhikarana (अधिकरण/Location)
• Type: Noun
• Root: तट (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, सप्तमी (7th/Locative), एकवचन

Speakers

• Not specified in the provided excerpt (commonly within Pulastya–Nārada dialogue framework)

Primary Deities

• Vishnu
• Nara-Narayana

Key Themes

• Tirtha Mahatmya (sacred place framing)
• Tapas and Brahman-realization
• Vaishnavism
• Sacred geography of the Himalaya

Verse Rasa (Emotional Flavour)

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

FAQs

What is the philosophical or ethical takeaway?

The verse presents sacred geography as an aid to realization: dwelling in a tīrtha and living with one-pointedness toward Brahman exemplifies how place, practice, and intention converge in the pursuit of liberation.

How does this fit the Pancalakshana?

This aligns most closely with Carita/Vamśānucarita-style narration (accounts of divine-sage activity) and also functions as a tīrtha-oriented passage (often a Purāṇic mode adjacent to dharma instruction rather than the five classical lakṣaṇas).

What is the symbolic significance?

Prāleyādri (snow-mountain) suggests purity and austerity; Gaṅgā signifies purification and divine descent; Badarikāśrama symbolizes the hermitage ideal—together mapping an inner ascent where the mind becomes ‘broad-banked’ and steady in Brahman.