Vamana Purana — Birth of Skanda (Kartikeya), Shloka 80

The Birth and Consecration of Skanda (Kartikeya) at Kurukshetra

Devanagari script

कुहूः कुवलयं प्रादान्मधुवर्णं मधूदका जम्बूकं धूतपापा च वेणा श्वेताननं ददौ

Transliteration

kuhūḥ kuvalayaṃ prādānmadhuvarṇaṃ madhūdakā jambūkaṃ dhūtapāpā ca veṇā śvetānanaṃ dadau

Translation

Kuhū accorda (le lieu sacré nommé) Kuvalaya ; Madhūdakā accorda Madhuvarṇa ; Dhūtapāpā accorda Jambūka ; et Veṇā accorda Śvetānana.

Word by Word

• कुहूः: Kuhū
• कुहूः: Karta (कर्ता/Subject)
• Type: Noun
• Root: कुहू (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st/प्रथमा), एकवचन; नाम (proper noun)

• कुवलयम्: Kuvalaya (name)
• कुवलयम्: Karma (कर्म/Object)
• Type: Noun
• Root: कुवलय (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, द्वितीया (2nd/द्वितीया), एकवचन

• प्रादात्: gave
• प्रादात्: Kriya (क्रिया/Verb)
• Type: Verb
• Root: प्र-दा (धातु)
• Form: लुङ् (Aorist/लुङ्), परस्मैपद, प्रथमपुरुष (3rd), एकवचन

• मधुवर्णम्: Madhuvarṇa (honey-colored; name)
• मधुवर्णम्: Karma (कर्म/Object)
• Type: Noun
• Root: मधु-वर्ण (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, द्वितीया (2nd/द्वितीया), एकवचन; समासः षष्ठी-तत्पुरुषः/कर्मधारय-प्रायः (मधोः वर्णः / मधुवर्णः)

• मधूदका: Madhūdakā (name)
• मधूदका: Karta (कर्ता/Subject)
• Type: Noun
• Root: मधु-उदका (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st/प्रथमा), एकवचन; समासः षष्ठी-तत्पुरुषः (मधोः उदका)

• जम्बूकम्: Jambūka (name)
• जम्बूकम्: Karma (कर्म/Object)
• Type: Noun
• Root: जम्बूक (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, द्वितीया (2nd/द्वितीया), एकवचन

• धूतपापा: Dhūtapāpā (she whose sins are washed away; name)
• धूतपापा: Karta (कर्ता/Subject)
• Type: Noun
• Root: धूत-पाप (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st/प्रथमा), एकवचन; समासः बहुव्रीहिः (धूतं पापं यस्याः)

• च: and
• च: Sambandha (सम्बन्ध/connector)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: च (अव्यय)
• Form: समुच्चयार्थक-निपात (conjunction)

• वेणा: (River) Veṇā
• वेणा: Karta (कर्ता/Subject)
• Type: Noun
• Root: वेणा (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st/प्रथमा), एकवचन; नदी-नाम (proper noun)

• श्वेताननम्: Śvetānana (white-faced; name)
• श्वेताननम्: Karma (कर्म/Object)
• Type: Noun
• Root: श्वेत-आनन (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, द्वितीया (2nd/द्वितीया), एकवचन; समासः कर्मधारयः (श्वेतम् आननम् यस्य)

• ददौ: gave
• ददौ: Kriya (क्रिया/Verb)
• Type: Verb
• Root: दा (धातु)
• Form: लिट् (Perfect/लिट्), परस्मैपद, प्रथमपुरुष (3rd), एकवचन

Speakers

• Narrator/ṛṣi voice (within the Saromāhātmya frame) enumerating tīrthas to the inquiring listener (traditional frame: Pulastya to Nārada).

Primary Deities

• Vishnu
• Shiva

Key Themes

• Tīrtha-nāma-kathana (catalog of sacred waters)
• Pāpa-kṣaya (removal of sin) through tīrtha association
• Sacred geography as a mnemonic map

Verse Rasa (Emotional Flavour)

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

FAQs

Why does the verse use verbs like ‘gave/bestowed’ for place-names?

In Purāṇic tīrtha-catalogs, ‘to give’ often functions as a formula meaning ‘to assign/manifest/associate’ a named sacred spot within a larger sacred region. It is less a literal donation and more a mapping of named tīrthas and their recognized powers.

Is Dhūtapāpā a river or a general epithet?

Both usages occur in Sanskrit: it is an epithet meaning ‘sin-washing,’ and in tīrtha sections it commonly becomes a proper name for a specific sacred watercourse or bathing-place whose defining merit is pāpa-kṣaya.

What is the practical function of listing many such names?

It creates a pilgrimage ‘gazetteer’—a memorized itinerary of waters and bathing points—so that devotees can locate, praise, and ritually engage a network of sites within the Saromāhātmya landscape.