Vamana Purana — Merit of Shravana Dvadashi, Shloka 53

The Merit of Śravaṇa-Dvādaśī and the Liberation of a Preta through Gayā Piṇḍa-Rites

Devanagari script

देहं त्यक्त्वा निरालम्बं काष्टवद् देविकाजले क्षणान्मज्जंस्तथोन्मज्जन्मुक्तकेशो यदृच्छया

Transliteration

dehaṃ tyaktvā nirālambaṃ kāṣṭavad devikājale kṣaṇānmajjaṃstathonmajjanmuktakeśo yadṛcchayā

Translation

[{"question": "Why would ‘yajñiya’ Brāhmaṇas stop the sacrifice?", "answer": "Purāṇic dharma often ranks immediate obligation—protecting life, responding to crisis, or addressing an extraordinary omen—above uninterrupted ritual procedure. The verse signals a sudden, compelling event that overrides normal sacrificial continuity."}, {"question": "Who is the ‘daitya-pati’ here?", "answer": "The excerpt does not name him. ‘Daitya-pati’ is a functional epithet (‘chief of the Daityas’) and must be identified from surrounding verses of Adhyāya 52."}, {"question": "What does the mixed audience (Daityas and Ṛṣis) imply?", "answer": "It heightens narrative tension: both antagonistic and ascetic groups witness the same phenomenon, suggesting the event is publicly undeniable and significant enough to suspend ritual action."}]

Word by Word

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Speakers

• Narratorial description within the chapter’s tirtha episode (speaker not explicit in provided excerpt).

Key Themes

• Tirtha Mahima
• Ritual purification through sacred waters
• Loss of agency/trance-like state
• Auspicious/inauspicious bodily signs (loosened hair)

Verse Rasa (Emotional Flavour)

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

FAQs

Does ‘dehaṃ tyaktvā’ mean the person died in the river?

Not necessarily. In Purāṇic narrative, ‘abandoning the body’ can denote surrendering bodily control—fainting, entering a trance, or becoming helpless—especially when followed by ‘sinking and rising again,’ which implies continued life.

Why is ‘mukta-keśa’ (loosened hair) mentioned?

Loosened hair is a vivid marker of altered state—distress, possession/trance, or the disarray associated with sudden immersion. In tīrtha contexts it can also underscore the raw, unguarded condition of the bather before purification.

What is the geographical significance of Devikā here?

Devikā is treated as a named sacred water-body (river/tīrtha). The verse frames Devikā’s current as powerful enough to carry a person ‘like a log,’ reinforcing the site’s physical reality and its ritual prominence in the chapter’s geography-focused narration.