Vamana Purana — Prahlada's Tirtha Circuit, Shloka 50

Prahlada’s Pilgrimage Circuit: Tirtha-Mahatmya from Naimisha to Rudrakoti and Shalagrama

Devanagari script

तत्र नारीह्रदे स्नात्वा पूजयित्वा च शङ्करम् कालिञ्जरं समभ्येत्य नीलकण्ठं ददर्श सः

Transliteration

tatra nārīhrade snātvā pūjayitvā ca śaṅkaram kāliñjaraṃ samabhyetya nīlakaṇṭhaṃ dadarśa saḥ

Translation

അവിടെ നാരീഹ്രദത്തിൽ സ്നാനം ചെയ്ത് ശങ്കരനെ പൂജിച്ച്, കാളിഞ്ചരത്തെ സമീപിച്ച് നീലകണ്ഠനെ ദർശിച്ചു।

Speakers

• Narratorial voice within the tirtha-itinerary (speaker not explicit in the given excerpt)

Primary Deities

• Shiva

Key Themes

• Sacred waters (hrada) as ritual nodes
• Darśana of a deity as pilgrimage culmination
• Śaiva tīrthas and epithets anchored to place
• Mythic epithet (Nīlakaṇṭha) localized in geography

Verse Rasa (Emotional Flavour)

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

FAQs

Why does the verse pair bathing (snāna) with worship (pūjā) and then “seeing” (darśana)?

This is a standard Purāṇic pilgrimage grammar: purification through water (snāna) prepares the pilgrim for formal worship (pūjā), which culminates in darśana—encountering the deity’s presence at a specific locale (here, Nīlakaṇṭha at Kāliñjara).

What is the geographical significance of Kāliñjara in such itineraries?

Kāliñjara functions as a prominent Śaiva landmark (often a hill/fort complex in later historical memory). In Purāṇic mapping, it serves as a named anchor that organizes surrounding minor tīrthas (like Nārīhrada) into a coherent route.

Does “Nīlakaṇṭha” here necessarily retell the poison-churning myth?

Not directly in this verse; rather, it uses the mythic epithet as a place-linked identity. Purāṇic geography frequently ‘plants’ pan-Indic divine names into local landscapes, making the site itself a mnemonic for the larger mythic world.