Vamana Purana — Sacred Abodes of Vishnu & Shiva, Shloka 43

Catalogue of Vishnu and Shiva’s Sacred Abodes (Tirtha-Mahatmya within the Pulastya–Narada Frame)

Devanagari script

पद्मनाभं तथा क्रौञ्चे शाल्मले वृषभध्वजम् सहस्रांशुः स्थितः शाके धर्मराट् पुष्करे स्थितः

Transliteration

padmanābhaṃ tathā krauñce śālmale vṛṣabhadhvajam sahasrāṃśuḥ sthitaḥ śāke dharmarāṭ puṣkare sthitaḥ

Translation

ક્રૌંચદ્વીપમાં તે ‘પદ્મનાભ’; શાલ્મલદ્વીપમાં ‘વૃષભધ્વજ’; શાકદ્વીપમાં ‘સહસ્રાંશુ’ રૂપે સ્થિત છે; અને પુષ્કરદ્વીપમાં ‘ધર્મરાટ્’ રૂપે સ્થિત છે।

Speakers

• Narratorial voice continuing the dvīpa-wise mapping of divine names

Primary Deities

• Vishnu
• Shiva
• Surya
• Yama (Dharmaraja)

Key Themes

• Sacred Geography (Dvipa Cosmography)
• Plural Theologies within a Single Cosmography
• Functional Divinity (Sun/Dharma as cosmic regulators)
• Shaiva-Vaishnava Integration

Verse Rasa (Emotional Flavour)

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

FAQs

Why does the text shift from Viṣṇu-names to Śiva, Sūrya, and Dharma/Yama across dvīpas?

This is a Purāṇic strategy of cosmic inclusivity: different dvīpas are characterized by dominant modes of worship and cosmic function. The geography becomes a theological map where multiple deities represent the Supreme’s governance through distinct powers.

Does ‘Vṛṣabhadhvaja’ here definitively indicate Śiva?

Yes. ‘Bull-bannered’ is a well-established Śaiva epithet (linked to Nandin and the bull emblem). In a dvīpa-list, it signals Śiva’s prominence or principal worship-form in Śālmaladvīpa.

Who is ‘Dharmarāṭ’ in Puṣkaradvīpa—Yama or a general principle?

Most naturally it points to Dharmarāja/Yama as the sovereign of moral order, but it can also be read as the presiding ‘kingly’ principle of dharma. The verse’s pattern (Sūrya named explicitly by epithet) supports a personal deity reading while retaining an abstract layer.