Vamana Purana — Prahlada vs Nara-Narayana, Shloka 33

Prahlada’s Defeat by Nara-Narayana and Victory through Bhakti

Devanagari script

स चोवाच महाराज महातीर्थं महाफलम् स्नातुमेवागतो ऽस्म्यद्य द्रष्टुञ्चैवाकुलीश्वरम्

Transliteration

sa covāca mahārāja mahātīrthaṃ mahāphalam snātumevāgato 'smyadya draṣṭuñcaivākulīśvaram

Translation

ထို့နောက် သူက ပြော하였다—“အို မဟာမင်းကြီး၊ ဤနေရာသည် အကျိုးကြီးမားသော မဟာတီရ္ထ ဖြစ်သည်။ ယနေ့ ငါသည် ထိုနေရာ၌ ရေချိုးရန်နှင့် အာကူလီဣශ්ဝရ ကို ဖူးမြင်ရန် လာရောက်하였다။”

Word by Word

• सः: he
• सः: Karta (कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: तद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st), एकवचन; सर्वनाम

• च: and
• च: Samuccaya (समुच्चय)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: च (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय; समुच्चय

• उवाच: said
• उवाच: Kriya (क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: वच् (धातु)
• Form: लिट् (Perfect), परस्मैपद, प्रथमपुरुष (3rd), एकवचन

• महाराज: O great king
• महाराज: Sambodhana (सम्बोधन)
• Type: Noun
• Root: महा + राजन् (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, सम्बोधन (Vocative/सम्बोधन), एकवचन

• महातीर्थम्: a great sacred ford/pilgrimage place
• महातीर्थम्: Karma (कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: महा + तीर्थ (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, द्वितीया (2nd), एकवचन

• महाफलम्: of great fruit (highly rewarding)
• महाफलम्: Visheshana (विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: महा + फल (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, द्वितीया (2nd), एकवचन; विशेषण (to महातीर्थम्)

• स्नातुम्: to bathe
• स्नातुम्: Prayojana (प्रयोजन)
• Type: Verb
• Root: स्ना (धातु) (कृदन्त)
• Form: तुमुन्-प्रत्यय (infinitive), क्रियार्थक

• एव: indeed/only
• एव: Niyama (नियम)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: एव (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय; अवधारण (emphasis/only)

• आगतः: (I have) come
• आगतः: Karta (कर्ता)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: आ+गम् (धातु) (कृदन्त)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st), एकवचन; क्त-प्रत्यय — having come

• अस्मि: am
• अस्मि: Kriya (क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: अस् (धातु)
• Form: लट् (Present), परस्मैपद, उत्तमपुरुष (1st), एकवचन

• अद्य: today
• अद्य: Kala-adhikarana (काल-अधिकरण)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: अद्य (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय; कालवाचक क्रियाविशेषण (today)

• द्रष्टुम्: to see
• द्रष्टुम्: Prayojana (प्रयोजन)
• Type: Verb
• Root: दृश् (धातु) (कृदन्त)
• Form: तुमुन्-प्रत्यय (infinitive)

• च: and
• च: Samuccaya (समुच्चय)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: च (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय; समुच्चय

• एव: indeed
• एव: Niyama (नियम)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: एव (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय; अवधारण

• आकुलीश्वरम्: Ākulīśvara (a deity)
• आकुलीश्वरम्: Karma (कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: आकुलीश्वर (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, द्वितीया (2nd), एकवचन; षष्ठी-तत्पुरुष/नामधेय (Ākulī-īśvara: Lord of Ākulī)

Speakers

• The visiting Bhṛgu-lineage sage speaking to Prahlāda (Mahārāja)

Primary Deities

• Shiva (Ākulīśvara)

Key Themes

• Tirtha Mahatmiya
• Ritual bathing (snāna) and merit (phala)
• Shaivism
• Sectarian harmony (Śaiva sacred goal appearing within a Daitya/Vaiṣṇava-associated narrative space)

Verse Rasa (Emotional Flavour)

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

FAQs

What is the philosophical or ethical takeaway?

Purāṇic dharma is enacted through pilgrimage: bodily act (snāna) joined to devotional seeing (darśana). Merit is framed not as mere geography but as disciplined intention—coming ‘today’ with a defined sacred purpose.

How does this fit the Pancalakshana?

This aligns with Vamśānucarita/Carita as narrative progression, while also introducing a Tīrtha-Māhātmya sublayer (praise of a tirtha and its fruit), which Purāṇas commonly embed within historical/royal episodes.

What is the symbolic significance?

Ākulīśvara (a Śaiva epithet) appearing here exemplifies the Vāmana Purāṇa’s tendency toward sectarian complementarity: the narrative world that will culminate in Viṣṇu’s avatāra ethics also validates Śiva-centered pilgrimage and liṅga-darśana as ‘mahāphala’.