Vamana Purana — Prahlada's Pilgrimage, Shloka 5

Prahlada’s Pilgrimage and the Origin of the Sudarshana–Trishula Exchange (Jalodbhava Episode)

Devanagari script

प्रौष्ठपद्याद्वयं पार्श्वे कुक्षिभ्यां रेवती स्थिता उरःसंस्था त्वनुराधा श्रविष्ठा पृष्ठसंस्थिता

Transliteration

prauṣṭhapadyādvayaṃ pārśve kukṣibhyāṃ revatī sthitā uraḥsaṃsthā tvanurādhā śraviṣṭhā pṛṣṭhasaṃsthitā

Translation

[{"question": "What are the ‘three parts’ mentioned here?", "answer": "The verse refers to a sacred locale (tīrtha/kshetra) described in the surrounding narrative of Adhyaya 56, which is said to have been divided into three sections by Viṣṇu’s cakra. The specific toponyms for these sections are supplied in the adjacent verses (including the next śloka’s triad of ‘-ākṣa’ names)."}, {"question": "How does the cakra ‘make’ a plVamana Purana,54,6,VamP 54.6,viśākhā bhujayorhastaḥ karadvayamudāhṛtam punarvasurathāṅgulyo nakhāḥ sārpaṃ tathocyate,विशाखा भुजयोर्हस्तः करद्वयमुदाहृतम् पुनर्वसुरथाङ्गुल्यो नखाः सार्पं तथोच्यते,Cosmological-Anatomical Mapping (Nakshatra-Purusha),Cosmology,Adhyaya 54 — Nakṣatra-aṅga-nyāsa (mapping lunar mansions onto the cosmic body),54.6,viśākhā bhujayorhastaḥ karadvayamudāhṛtam punarvasurathāṅgulyo nakhāḥ sārpaṃ tathocyate,viśākhā bhujayor hastaḥ karadvayam udāhṛtam | punarvasur athāṅgulyo nakhāḥ sārpaṃ tathocyate ||,‘Viśākhā’ is declared to be the two arms; the hands are said to be the pair of palms. ‘Punarvasu’ is then stated to be the fingers

Speakers

• Not specified in the provided excerpt (likely a narrator-sage discourse).

Primary Deities

• Vishnu

Key Themes

• Nakṣatra dyads and bodily loci
• Purāṇic jyotiṣa terminology (variant nakṣatra names)
• Cosmic embodiment of time

Verse Rasa (Emotional Flavour)

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

FAQs

What are ‘Proṣṭhapadā’ and ‘Śraviṣṭhā’ in later nakṣatra nomenclature?

Proṣṭhapadā commonly corresponds to the Bhādrapadā pair (Pūrvabhādrapadā and Uttarabhādrapadā). Śraviṣṭhā is widely known as Dhaniṣṭhā. The Vāmana Purāṇa here preserves older/alternate naming conventions used across Purāṇic and jyotiṣa traditions.

Why assign Revatī to the abdomen and Anurādhā to the chest?

The text is constructing a coherent ‘cosmic anatomy’ where central, sustaining regions (abdomen/chest) receive prominent nakṣatras. This supports contemplative identification of bodily centers with astral order, reinforcing the idea that the cosmos is organized within the deity’s form.

Is any sacred geography encoded in these verses?

Not directly. Unlike the tīrtha-focused portions of the Vāmana Purāṇa, these verses are astral-cosmological and do not name rivers, forests, or pilgrimage sites. Their ‘geography’ is celestial (nakṣatra-space) rather than terrestrial.