Vamana Purana — Merit of Shravana Dvadashi, Shloka 7

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

Devanagari script

नमस्कृत्य जगन्नाथमथो कूर्मवपुर्धरम् ततो जगाम कृष्णाख्यं द्रष्टुं वाजिमुखं प्रभुम् तत्र देवह्रदे स्नात्वा तर्पयित्वा पितॄन् सुरान्

Transliteration

namaskṛtya jagannāthamatho kūrmavapurdharam tato jagāma kṛṣṇākhyaṃ draṣṭuṃ vājimukhaṃ prabhum tatra devahrade snātvā tarpayitvā pitṝn surān

Translation

Having bowed to Jagannātha, the Lord who bears the form of the Tortoise (Kūrma), he then went to the place called Kṛṣṇa to behold the Horse-faced Lord. There, having bathed in Deva-hrada, he offered libations (tarpana) to the Pitṛs and to the gods.

Speakers

• Narrative voice (Purāṇic narrator) describing a pilgrim’s sequence of visits (speaker not explicit in the given excerpt).

Primary Deities

• Vishnu
• Hayagriva
• Pitrs
• Devas

Key Themes

• Tīrtha-yātrā (pilgrimage itinerary)
• Snāna (ritual bathing) and Tarpana
• Darśana of Viṣṇu’s avatāra-forms
• Integration of devotion and ancestral rites

Verse Rasa (Emotional Flavour)

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

FAQs

Who is the “Horse-faced Lord” (vājimukha prabhu) in this verse?

The epithet vājimukha (“horse-faced”) points to Hayagrīva, a Vaiṣṇava manifestation associated with sacred knowledge and the recovery/protection of the Veda. The next verse’s explicit “hayaśīrṣa” confirms this identification.

What is the ritual logic of bathing at Deva-hrada and then performing tarpana?

In Purāṇic tīrtha practice, snāna in a named sacred water-body is followed by tarpana—water-offerings to Pitṛs and devas—because tīrtha-water is considered especially efficacious for satisfying ancestors and honoring the divine order.

Is “Kṛṣṇākhya” here the deity Kṛṣṇa or a place-name?

Grammatically and contextually it functions as a toponym (“the place called Kṛṣṇa”), within an itinerary of sites; the verse then specifies the object of darśana there as the horse-faced Lord, indicating the name belongs to the locality/tīrtha rather than the deity Kṛṣṇa.