Vamana Purana — Nakshatra-Purusha Vrata, Shloka 49

The Nakshatra-Purusha Vrata: Worship of Vishnu’s Body as the Constellations

Devanagari script

सौवीरतिलपिण्याकसक्तुशाकादिभोनैः क्षपयामि कदन्नाद्यैरात्मानं कालयापनैः

Transliteration

sauvīratilapiṇyākasaktuśākādibhonaiḥ kṣapayāmi kadannādyairātmānaṃ kālayāpanaiḥ

Translation

triśūla: trident (Śiva’s weapon); dadhāra: bore, took up; viṣṇuḥ: Viṣṇu; cakra: discus (Sudarśana); trinetraḥ: the Three-eyed (Śiva); ari-sūdana-artham: for the purpose of slaying enemies; agha-hantrī: destroyer of sin; vitastā: the river Vitastā (Jhelum); hara: Śiva; aṅghri: foot; pāta: fall/strike/impact; chiśira-acala: ‘snowy mountain’, Himālaya/Himavat.

Speakers

• Unspecified in prompt; first-person voice of a sufferer/penitent continuing the confession in Adhyaya 53.

Key Themes

• Austerity through poverty-like diet
• Karmic retribution and bodily wasting
• Subsistence vs. dharmic flourishing

Verse Rasa (Emotional Flavour)

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

FAQs

Are these foods markers of asceticism or destitution?

They can signal both. In Purāṇic rhetoric, listing coarse foods (oil-cake, saktu, greens) often depicts either forced poverty (pāpa-phala) or deliberate austerity; the phrase ‘kāla-yāpanaiḥ’ leans toward mere survival rather than chosen tapas.

What is the nuance of ‘kṣapayāmi ātmānam’?

It suggests the body is being ‘worn down’—either by illness, hardship, or penitential living—reinforcing the speaker’s degraded state and the urgency for purification or refuge.

Does this verse contribute to the geography emphasis of the Vāmana Purāṇa?

Indirectly. While no place-name appears here, such confessional passages commonly frame why a particular tīrtha (named elsewhere in the chapter) is sought for relief, expiation, or merit.