Vamana Purana — Shukra's Curse on King Danda, Shloka 28

Shukra’s Curse on King Danda and Andhaka’s Challenge to Shiva

Devanagari script

तत्र स्थितैका सुदती विश्वकर्मतनुरुहा चित्राङ्गदा सुचार्वङ्गी वीक्षन्ती तनुमध्यमे

Transliteration

tatra sthitaikā sudatī viśvakarmatanuruhā citrāṅgadā sucārvaṅgī vīkṣantī tanumadhyame

Translation

तेथे एक सुदती स्त्री उभी होती, जिला विश्वकर्माच्या देहातून उत्पन्न झाली असे म्हणतात. तिचे नाव चित्रांगदा; सुडौल अवयवांची व सडपातळ कटीची ती सर्व काही पाहत होती.

Speakers

• Narrator voice introducing/depicting Citrāṅgadā within the ongoing Pushkara episode.

Primary Deities

• Viśvakarman

Key Themes

• Mythic genealogy/origin (viśvakarma-tanū-ruhā)
• Auspicious beauty-description (strī-lakṣaṇa)
• Pilgrimage setting as stage for encounters

Verse Rasa (Emotional Flavour)

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

FAQs

Who is Viśvakarman, and what does ‘arisen from his body’ imply?

Viśvakarman is the divine artisan/architect in Vedic-Purāṇic tradition. ‘Tanū-ruhā’ signals a non-ordinary, crafted or divinely generated origin—often used to heighten a character’s exceptional status within a tīrtha narrative.

Is Citrāṅgadā here the same as the Mahābhārata’s Citrāṅgadā?

The name is shared across traditions, but identity cannot be assumed from this verse alone. Purāṇas frequently reuse names; confirmation requires the surrounding narrative (relationships, deeds, and explicit identifiers).

Why does the text linger on physical descriptors like ‘sucārvaṅgī’ and ‘tanumadhyamā’?

Such descriptors are conventional markers in Sanskrit narrative to signal auspiciousness, attraction, and narrative importance—often foreshadowing an encounter, choice, or test connected to the tīrtha setting.