Vamana Purana — Vamana's Birth, Shloka 6

Vamana’s Birth during Bali’s Horse-Sacrifice and the Mapping of Vishnu’s Sacred Presences

Devanagari script

तस्यां स्नात्वार्ऽच्य देवेर्षे सर्व एव महर्षयः ऐरावतीं सुपुण्योदां स्नात्वा जग्मुरथेश्वरीम्

Transliteration

tasyāṃ snātvār'cya deverṣe sarva eva maharṣayaḥ airāvatīṃ supuṇyodāṃ snātvā jagmuratheśvarīm

Translation

O divine seer, having bathed there and performed worship, all the great ṛṣis then bathed in the Airāvatī—whose waters are exceedingly meritorious—and thereafter proceeded to (another) Īśvarī (a sacred site of the Goddess/Lord).

Speakers

• Narrator-sage addressing a Devarṣi (likely Pulastya to Nārada
• consistent with Purāṇic tīrtha-kathā framing)

Primary Deities

• Īśvara (Śiva, implied by ‘Īśvara/Īśvarī’ tīrtha-name)
• Devī (implied by ‘Īśvarī’)

Key Themes

• Tīrtha-yātrā (pilgrimage sequence)
• Snāna (ritual bathing) and Arcana (worship)
• Merit of sacred waters (puṇya-udaka)

Verse Rasa (Emotional Flavour)

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

FAQs

Why does the verse emphasize both bathing (snāna) and worship (arcana)?

In tīrtha-mahātmya literature, snāna purifies and ‘activates’ the pilgrim’s eligibility for merit, while arcana anchors the act in devotion and right intention. The pairing signals a complete pilgrimage rite: bodily purification plus deity-centered offering.

Is ‘Īśvarī’ here a goddess, or a place-name?

Grammatically it can be read as ‘to Īśvarī (the Sovereign Goddess)’, but in tīrtha contexts such accusatives often denote the next destination—i.e., a shrine/tīrtha named Īśvarī (or associated with Īśvara/Devī). The verse’s travel-sequence (‘snātvā… jagmuḥ’) supports the place-name reading.

What is the function of calling Airāvatī ‘supuṇyodā’?

It is a standard Purāṇic marker of a river’s salvific potency: the water itself is treated as a carrier of puṇya. Such epithets also distinguish one river from another in a pilgrimage itinerary and justify why sages prioritize bathing there.