Vamana Purana — Merit of Shravana Dvadashi, Shloka 24

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

Devanagari script

ततो ऽपरो योजनकोटिभिस्तु त्रिंशद्भिरादित्यसहस्रदीप्तिः सत्याभिधानो भगवन्निवासो वरप्रदो ऽभुद् भवतो हि यो ऽसौ

Transliteration

tato 'paro yojanakoṭibhistu triṃśadbhirādityasahasradīptiḥ satyābhidhāno bhagavannivāso varaprado 'bhud bhavato hi yo 'sau

Translation

[{"question": "Is ‘ati-nirghṛṇaḥ’ describing the speaker’s character or their condition?", "answer": "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."}, {"question": "What does ‘prāṇā … dhāritāḥ’ imply here?", "answer": "It conveys precarious survival—life being ‘propped up’ with difficulty—heightening the sense that the speaker is undergoing the consequences of past actions."}, {"question": "How does this fit a tīrtha-mahātmya framework?", "answer": "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."}]

Speakers

• Narrator/teacher addressing an interlocutor referred to as ‘you’ (bhavataḥ); earlier vocatives suggest an Asura-king as listener (exact named speakers not provided in prompt)

Primary Deities

• Bhagavān (the Blessed Lord; not named explicitly)

Key Themes

• Supreme realm and divine radiance
• Boons and divine grace
• Cosmic vertical mapping by distance
• The Lord as bestower (vara-prada)

Verse Rasa (Emotional Flavour)

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

FAQs

Is ‘Satya’ here the same as Satya-loka (Brahma-loka) known elsewhere?

The name aligns with the common Purāṇic ‘Satya-loka’ at the summit of the upper worlds. This verse emphasizes it as ‘bhagavan-nivāsa’ (abode of the Lord), focusing on supreme sanctity and radiance rather than administrative cosmology.

Why describe the realm as ‘radiant like a thousand suns’?

Such imagery conveys transcendence and the intensity of sattva/tejas in the highest sphere. It also functions as a narrative warning: lower beings cannot easily approach or endure that brilliance.

What does ‘that one became the giver of boons to you’ imply in context?

It links cosmography to narrative causality: the same supreme Lord associated with Satya-loka is identified as the source of a boon previously received by the listener, integrating geography (where) with theology (who grants) and story (to whom/why).