Vamana Purana — Nakshatra-Purusha Vrata, Shloka 48

The Nakshatra-Purusha Vrata: Worship of Vishnu’s Body as the Constellations

Devanagari script

कथं कथमपि प्राणा मया संप्रतिधारिताः एवमेतादृशः पापी निवसाम्यतिनिर्घृणः

Transliteration

kathaṃ kathamapi prāṇā mayā saṃpratidhāritāḥ evametādṛśaḥ pāpī nivasāmyatinirghṛṇaḥ

Translation

Entah bagaimana—hanya entah bagaimana—aku mempertahankan napas hidupku; dan demikian, sebagai pendosa seperti ini, aku terus hidup tanpa belas kasih.

Speakers

• Unspecified in prompt; first-person confession likely addressed to a sage/interlocutor in Adhyaya 53.

Key Themes

• Confession and self-reproach
• Endurance of life amid suffering
• Ethics of compassion (dayā) vs. cruelty (nirghṛṇatā)

Verse Rasa (Emotional Flavour)

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

FAQs

Is ‘ati-nirghṛṇaḥ’ describing the speaker’s character or their condition?

Grammatically it qualifies the speaker (‘I live on… exceedingly without compassion’). In Purāṇic confession passages, such self-labeling often signals remorse and recognition of prior cruelty or neglect of dharma.

What does ‘prāṇā … dhāritāḥ’ imply here?

It conveys precarious survival—life being ‘propped up’ with difficulty—heightening the sense that the speaker is undergoing the consequences of past actions.

How does this fit a tīrtha-mahātmya framework?

Tīrtha sections frequently introduce a sufferer’s misery/confession to motivate pilgrimage, charity, vows, or worship that leads to purification; the verse supplies the moral pressure that precedes redemptive instruction.