Vamana Purana — Sin-Destroying Hymn (Part 2), Shloka 8

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

Devanagari script

गोपालं च सैवकुण्ठं नमस्ये चापराजितम् नमस्ये विश्वरूपं च सौगन्धिं सर्वदाशिवम्

Transliteration

gopālaṃ ca saivakuṇṭhaṃ namasye cāparājitam namasye viśvarūpaṃ ca saugandhiṃ sarvadāśivam

Translation

I bow to Gopāla; I bow to Saiva-kuṇṭha; and I bow to the Unconquered (Aparājita). I bow to Viśvarūpa; to Saugandhi; and to Sarvadāśiva.

Speakers

• Unspecified in the given excerpt (within Adhyāya 61’s stuti section; likely a narrator/ṛṣi voice reciting a tīrtha-deity litany).

Primary Deities

• Vishnu
• Krishna (as Gopāla)
• Shiva

Key Themes

• Tīrtha Māhātmya
• Stuti and namaskāra
• Śaiva–Vaiṣṇava unity in pilgrimage landscape
• Sacred toponymy (tīrtha names as epithets)

Verse Rasa (Emotional Flavour)

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

FAQs

Are these primarily deity names or place-names?

In tīrtha-māhātmya chapters, the Vāmana Purāṇa often lists a sequence of “named presences” where a single term can denote (a) a deity-form worshipped there and (b) the tīrtha/shrine itself. Here, Saiva-kuṇṭha and Saugandhi read most clearly as toponyms (a kuṇḍa/pond and a fragrant tīrtha), while Gopāla, Aparājita, Viśvarūpa, and Sarvadāśiva can function as shrine-epithets tied to specific spots.

What is the theological point of invoking both Viṣṇu-forms and Śiva-forms in one breath?

Pilgrimage catalogues in this Purāṇa map sanctity as a shared field: Śiva and Viṣṇu are praised without sectarian exclusion. The litany style itself teaches that merit accrues through honoring the whole sacred geography, not only one deity’s circuit.

What does “Saiva-kuṇṭha” imply geographically?

The compound strongly suggests a “Śaiva kuṇḍa/kuṇṭha”—a consecrated water-body (pond/basin) associated with Śiva worship. Such water-sites are typical anchors of tīrtha networks, used for bathing (snāna) and ritual offerings.