Vamana Purana — Shiva's Kedara Tirtha, Shloka 16

Shiva’s Kedara-Tirtha and the Rise of Mura: From Shaiva Pilgrimage to Vaishnava Theology

Devanagari script

एतद् वरं हरात् तीर्थं प्राप्य पुष्णाति देवताः पुनाति पुंसां केदारस्त्रिनेत्रवचनं यथा

Transliteration

etad varaṃ harāt tīrthaṃ prāpya puṣṇāti devatāḥ punāti puṃsāṃ kedārastrinetravacanaṃ yathā

Translation

ハラ（シヴァ）より授けられたこの最勝のティールタに到れば、諸神を養い、歓喜させる。ケーダーラは人々を清めるが、それは三つ目の御方（シヴァ）の言葉が必ず成就するのと同じである。

Word by Word

• एतत्: this
• एतत्: Visheshana (विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: एतद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, द्वितीया (2nd), एकवचन; ‘तीर्थम्’ इति विशेषणम्

• वरम्: excellent
• वरम्: Visheshana (विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: वर (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, द्वितीया (2nd), एकवचन; ‘तीर्थम्’ इति विशेषणम्

• हरात्: from Hara (Śiva)
• हरात्: Apadana (अपादान)
• Type: Noun
• Root: हर (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, पञ्चमी (5th), एकवचन; अपादान (ablative)

• तीर्थम्: sacred ford/pilgrimage place
• तीर्थम्: Karma (कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: तीर्थ (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, द्वितीया (2nd), एकवचन

• प्राप्य: having obtained/reached
• प्राप्य: Purvakala-kriya (पूर्वकाल-क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: प्र + आप् (धातु)
• Form: क्त्वान्त (absolutive/gerund)

• पुष्णाति: nourishes / prospers
• पुष्णाति: Kriya (क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: पुष् (धातु)
• Form: लट्-लकार (Present), प्रथमपुरुष (3rd), एकवचन; परस्मैपद

• देवताः: the deities
• देवताः: Karma (कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: देवता (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st), बहुवचन

• पुनाति: purifies
• पुनाति: Kriya (क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: पू (धातु)
• Form: लट्-लकार (Present), प्रथमपुरुष (3rd), एकवचन; परस्मैपद

• पुंसाम्: of men
• पुंसाम्: Sampradana/Beneficiary (सम्प्रदान-अर्थे)
• Type: Noun
• Root: पुंस् (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, षष्ठी (6th), बहुवचन

• केदारः: Kedāra
• केदारः: Karta (कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: केदार (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st), एकवचन

• त्रिनेत्रवचनम्: the word of the three-eyed one (Śiva)
• त्रिनेत्रवचनम्: Upamana/Pramana (प्रमाण/उपमान-सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Noun
• Root: त्रि + नेत्र + वचन (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, द्वितीया (2nd), एकवचन; षष्ठी-तत्पुरुष (‘त्रिनेत्रस्य वचनम्’)

• यथा: as / just as
• यथा: Sambandha (सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: यथा (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय; उपमान/प्रकारवाचक (comparative/quotative)

Speakers

• Unspecified in the excerpt (continuation of Adhyaya 34’s narration praising a Śaiva-associated tīrtha).

Primary Deities

• Shiva

Key Themes

• Tirtha Mahima
• Shaiva sanctity of place
• Purification (pavana)
• Deva-tarpaṇa / sustaining the gods through rite

Verse Rasa (Emotional Flavour)

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

FAQs

What is ‘Kedāra’ in this passage—field, shrine, or tīrtha?

Although ‘kedāra’ can mean a cultivated field, the verse explicitly uses it as a proper noun for a tīrtha. In Purāṇic geography, such names often denote a sacralized locale (frequently Śaiva) where bathing and worship are said to purify.

How does visiting a tīrtha ‘nourish the deities’?

The phrase ‘puṣṇāti devatāḥ’ reflects the ritual logic that offerings, homa, tarpaṇa, and worship performed at a potent site are especially efficacious, thereby ‘strengthening/pleasing’ the devas—an idiom for successful ritual reciprocity.

Why compare Kedāra’s power to Śiva’s ‘word’?

Śiva’s ‘vacana’ signifies an irrevocable divine decree. The comparison asserts reliability: Kedāra’s purificatory effect is as certain as the truth-power (satya/ādeśa) of the Three-eyed Lord.