Vamana Purana — Sin-Destroying Hymn (Part 1), Shloka 50

The Second Sin-Destroying Hymn (Pāpaśamana Stava) and the Syncretic Praise of Hari-Hara

Devanagari script

केशवस्याग्रतो गत्वा स्नात्वा तीर्थे सितोदके उपशान्तस्तथा जातो रुद्रः पापवशात् ततः

Transliteration

keśavasyāgrato gatvā snātvā tīrthe sitodake upaśāntastathā jāto rudraḥ pāpavaśāt tataḥ

Translation

Dāmodara: “He whose belly (udara) is bound (dāma),” an epithet of Viṣṇu/Kṛṣṇa recalling the binding by Yaśodā; Udārākṣa: “wide/generous-eyed,” a mark of divine compassion; Puṇḍarīkākṣa: “lotus-eyed,” a standard Viṣṇu epithet; Acyuta: “the unfailing/imperishable one,” Viṣṇu as never falling from his nature; Praṇata: one who bows in reverence; Stuti/Stutyaiḥ: praise/hymns; Pāpa: demerit/sin; Vyapohatu: “may (he) remove, dispel.”

Speakers

• Narrative voice within Pulastya’s discourse to Nārada (continuing context from Adhyaya 60)

Primary Deities

• Viṣṇu (Keśava)
• Śiva (Rudra)

Key Themes

• Tīrtha as purifier (snāna-mahima)
• Pāpa-śamana (removal/appeasement of sin)
• Śaiva–Vaiṣṇava convergence (Rudra pacified at Keśava-associated tīrtha)

Verse Rasa (Emotional Flavour)

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

FAQs

What is the ritual point of the verse—why emphasize bathing at Sitodaka?

The verse frames Sitodaka as a tīrtha whose snāna (ritual bath) produces upaśama—pacification of inner disturbance and the quelling of pāpa’s effects. In tīrtha-mahātmyas, bathing is the primary act that converts a geographic site into a lived soteriological practice.

How should ‘Rudraḥ pāpavaśāt’ be understood—does Rudra ‘have sin’?

The phrasing is best read as a mythic-idiomatic statement: even Rudra, when engaged in a fierce or punitive mode ‘under the sway of pāpa’ (i.e., in relation to sin’s consequences in the world), becomes appeased at this place. It magnifies the tīrtha’s power rather than imputing ordinary moral fault to the deity.

What geographical data does this verse contribute?

It explicitly names Sitodaka as a distinct tīrtha/water-body and implicitly anchors it to a Keśava locus (a shrine or sacred presence), indicating a pilgrimage node defined by both hydrology (the water) and cult (Keśava).