Vamana Purana — Sacred Abodes of Vishnu & Shiva, Shloka 30

Catalogue of Vishnu and Shiva’s Sacred Abodes (Tirtha-Mahatmya within the Pulastya–Narada Frame)

Devanagari script

महाबाहुं सुराष्ट्रे च नवराष्ट्रे यशोधरम् भूधरं देवकानद्यां महोदायां कुशप्रियम्

Transliteration

mahābāhuṃ surāṣṭre ca navarāṣṭre yaśodharam bhūdharaṃ devakānadyāṃ mahodāyāṃ kuśapriyam

Translation

ਸੁਰਾਸ਼ਟਰ ਵਿੱਚ ਉਹ ‘ਮਹਾਬਾਹੁ’ ਹਨ; ਨਵਰਾਸ਼ਟਰ ਵਿੱਚ ‘ਯਸ਼ੋਧਰ’ ਹਨ; ਦੇਵਕਾ ਨਦੀ ਉੱਤੇ ‘ਭੂਧਰ’ ਹਨ; ਅਤੇ ਮਹੋਦਾ ਵਿੱਚ ‘ਕੁਸ਼ਪ੍ਰਿਯ’ ਕਹੇ ਜਾਂਦੇ ਹਨ।

Speakers

• Narrator/teacher continuing the address to a Brahmin interlocutor within a geographic catalogue

Primary Deities

• Vishnu (Hari/Narayana)

Key Themes

• Regionalization of Vishnu worship
• Pilgrimage mapping across kingdoms and river-sites
• Ritual symbolism (kuśa-grass and purity)

Verse Rasa (Emotional Flavour)

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

FAQs

What does ‘Kuśapriya’ suggest about the character of worship at Mahodā?

Kuśa-grass is central to Vedic ritual (āsana, pavitra, and rites of purification). Naming the deity ‘Kuśapriya’ implies a shrine tradition emphasizing orthodox ritual performance, purity, and sacrificial/vaidika associations.

Is ‘Devakā-nadī’ identifiable with a modern river?

The verse provides only the hydronym ‘Devakā’. Purāṇic river-names can correspond to local/now-obscure streams or older names of larger rivers; without corroborating regional markers in adjacent verses, the safest scholarly handling is to record it as an attested sacred river-name in this itinerary.

Why are both regions (Surāṣṭra, Navarāṣṭra) and a river-site (Devakā) used in the same breath?

Purāṇic sacred geography is multi-layered: some forms are anchored to political-cultural regions (janapadas), others to natural features (rivers, mountains). The text treats both as legitimate ‘coordinates’ for locating divine presence.