Vamana Purana — Sarasvata Hymn to Vishnu, Shloka 61
The Sarasvata Hymn to Vishnu (Vishnu-Pañjara) and the Redemption of a Rakshasa
सा प्रोवाच द्विजसुतं राक्षसग्रहणाकुलम् मा भैर्द्विजसुताहं त्वां मोक्षयिष्यामि संकटात्
sā provāca dvijasutaṃ rākṣasagrahaṇākulam mā bhairdvijasutāhaṃ tvāṃ mokṣayiṣyāmi saṃkaṭāt
[{"question": "Why is Puruṣottama called the “Wheel of Time” (kālacakra) here?", "answer": "The hymn identifies the supreme Lord with the regulating principle of time itself—time as a cyclic, ordered power that turns the cosmos through recurring phases. The wheel imagery conveys both inevitability (time’s turning) and totality (time encompassing all beings and events)."}, {"question": "What might “twelve spokes” and “six hubs” signify in Purāṇic symbolism?", "answer": "Purāṇic stutis often encode cosmological time-measures: twelve spokes can point to the twelve months or a complete annual/solar cycle; six hubs can be read as the six seasons (ṛtus) or a sixfold division used in ritual and calendrical reckoning. The verse uses these as metaphors for the Lord’s comprehensive governance of temporal order."}, {"question": "How does “bhavānīśa” function theologically in a hymn to Viṣṇu?", "answer": "Calling the praised Lord “the Lord of Bhavānī” (a standard epithet of Śiva) is a deliberate Hari–Hara identification: the hymn collapses sectarian boundaries by asserting that the supreme reality addressed as Puruṣottama is also Śiva, the consort-lord of Bhavānī."}]
{ "primaryRasa": "karuna", "secondaryRasa": "vira", "rasaIntensity": 0, "emotionalArcPosition": "", "moodDescriptors": [] }
FAQs
Grahaṇa literally means ‘seizing.’ In Purāṇic idiom it can cover abduction, physical restraint, or a hostile ‘grasp’ akin to affliction. The verse’s emphasis on ākulatā (distress) and promised mokṣa (release) supports a concrete peril, whether bodily capture or overpowering attack.
The label marks ritual-social identity: a brahmin youth represents Vedic continuity and vulnerability. In tīrtha narratives, the rescue of a dvija underscores the tīrtha’s dharmic function—protecting those aligned with sacred learning and conduct.
Here mokṣa is primarily ‘release’ from immediate danger (saṃkaṭa). Purāṇas often use mokṣa/mocana in both senses; the local context favors deliverance from the rākṣasa, while still hinting at the tīrtha’s broader salvific power.