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

kathaṃ katham api: somehow or other, with great difficulty; prāṇāḥ: vital breaths, life-forces; saṃprati-dhāritāḥ: held up, sustained, maintained; pāpī: sinful person, doer of wrong; nivasāmi: I dwell/live; ati-nirghṛṇaḥ: exceedingly pitiless/merciless (also ‘devoid of tenderness/compassion’).

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).