Vamana Purana — Sarasvata Hymn to Vishnu, Shloka 3

The Sarasvata Hymn to Vishnu (Vishnu-Pañjara) and the Redemption of a Rakshasa

Devanagari script

तेनैव कर्मदोषेम स्वेन पापकृतां वरः क्रुरैश्चक्रे ततो वृत्तिं राक्षसत्वाद् विशेषतः

Transliteration

tenaiva karmadoṣema svena pāpakṛtāṃ varaḥ kruraiścakre tato vṛttiṃ rākṣasatvād viśeṣataḥ

Translation

એ જ કર્મદોષ—પોતાના પાપકર્મના પરિણામે—તે પાપીઓમાં અગ્રગણ્ય બની, ખાસ કરીને રાક્ષસત્વને કારણે, પછી ક્રૂર જીવનવૃત્તિ અપનાવી.

Speakers

• Narrator continuing the karmic characterization of the niśācara/rākṣasa figure within the Adhyaya.

Key Themes

• Agency and moral responsibility (svena)
• Karmic causality (karma-doṣa)
• Rākṣasa-dharma as degeneration of conduct
• Cruelty as a lifestyle (krūra-vṛtti)

Verse Rasa (Emotional Flavour)

{ "primaryRasa": "bibhatsa", "secondaryRasa": "bhayanaka", "rasaIntensity": 0, "emotionalArcPosition": "", "moodDescriptors": [] }

FAQs

Is the verse teaching determinism (born a rākṣasa, therefore cruel) or moral agency?

Both strands are present but the emphasis is on agency: ‘svena’ (‘by his own’) and ‘karma-doṣa’ frame the rākṣasa condition as the fruit of prior choices. ‘Rākṣasatva’ then describes how that karmic embodiment reinforces a cruel ‘vṛtti’ (habitual conduct).

What does ‘vṛtti’ mean in a Purāṇic ethical context?

Vṛtti is not merely occupation; it is a sustained pattern of behavior—how one lives day to day. Here it indicates a settled, cruel mode of life consistent with adharma.

Why call him ‘pāpakṛtāṃ varaḥ’ (foremost among sinners)?

It is a rhetorical intensifier used in Purāṇic narration to mark exemplary moral failure. The figure becomes a cautionary type: one whose accumulated wrongdoing culminates in demonic embodiment and conduct.