Narada Purana — Purva Bhaga, Shloka 39
The Account of Kārtavīrya’s Protective Kavaca
Kārtavīrya-kavaca-vṛttānta
सहस्रभुजनृत्पृष्टं सप्तद्वीपाधिपः कटिम् । ऊरू माहिष्मतीनाथो जानुनी वल्लभो भुवः ॥ ३९ ॥
sahasrabhujanṛtpṛṣṭaṃ saptadvīpādhipaḥ kaṭim | ūrū māhiṣmatīnātho jānunī vallabho bhuvaḥ || 39 ||
सप्तद्वीपाधिप माझी कटी रक्षो; सहस्रभुज नृप माझा पृष्ठभाग रक्षो। माहिष्मतीनाथ माझे ऊरू रक्षो; भुवल्लभ माझे जानू रक्षो॥
Suta (narrating a traditional list/identification within the Narada Purana transmission)
Vrata: none
Primary Rasa: bhakti
Secondary Rasa: vira
FAQs
It uses Purāṇic symbolic identification—mapping great rulers and regions onto parts of a cosmic body—to convey that sovereignty and sacred geography are ultimately integrated within a higher, ordered whole.
Direct bhakti instruction is not explicit here; however, by presenting worldly powers (kingship, regions like the seven dvīpas) as subordinate elements within a larger sacred framework, it supports the bhakti view that all greatness is meaningful when oriented toward the divine order.
The verse reflects the Purāṇic encyclopedic method used alongside Vedāṅga-style cataloguing—precise epithets, place-identifiers (e.g., Māhiṣmatī), and structured enumeration—useful for traditional recitation, memory, and textual indexing.