Vamana Purana — Shukra's Curse on King Danda, Shloka 41

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

Devanagari script

पर्जन्यस्य घृताच्यां तु जाता वेदवतीति हि रममाणा वनेद्देशे दृष्टास्मि कपना सखि

Transliteration

parjanyasya ghṛtācyāṃ tu jātā vedavatīti hi ramamāṇā vaneddeśe dṛṣṭāsmi kapanā sakhi

Translation

« Née de Parjanya et de Ghṛtācī, je porte en vérité le nom de Vedavatī. Tandis que j’errais dans une région forestière, ô amie, un singe m’aperçut. »

Speakers

• Vedavatī narrating (to an unnamed interlocutor addressed as ‘sakhi’ / friend)

Primary Deities

• Parjanya
• Ghṛtācī

Key Themes

• Genealogy and identity statement
• Forest-setting (āraṇya motif)
• Purāṇic intertext (Vedavatī tradition)

Verse Rasa (Emotional Flavour)

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

FAQs

Why is Vedavatī’s parentage (Parjanya–Ghṛtācī) emphasized here?

Purāṇas often anchor a character’s authority and destiny through lineage. Naming Parjanya (a rain-associated Vedic figure) and Ghṛtācī (an apsaras) situates Vedavatī at the intersection of Vedic-divine and celestial lineages, preparing for her later role as a figure of tapas and chastity in wider tradition.

Is the ‘forest-region’ (vanadeśa) meant as a specific pilgrimage geography?

In these lines it functions as a narrative landscape rather than a named tīrtha. The Vāmana Purāṇa frequently moves between named sacred sites and generic wilderness settings; here the anonymity heightens the ‘āraṇya’ atmosphere where extraordinary encounters occur.

Who is the ‘friend’ (sakhi) addressed by Vedavatī?

The verse does not identify the listener. ‘Sakhi’ can mark an internal frame-dialogue (Vedavatī recounting to a companion) or a conventional narrative address; identification must be inferred from the surrounding chapter context.