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 is the purpose of mapping nakṣatras onto body parts?", "answer": "This is a Purāṇic cosmological device: the human (or cosmic) body is treated as a microcosm of the heavens. By assigning nakṣatras to limbs and features, the text encodes astronomical/ritual knowledge in an embodied mnemonic form."}, {"question": "Why is ‘Sārpa’ associated with nails?", "answer": "‘Sārpa’ means ‘serpentine’ and evokes the serpent symbolism prominent in certain lunar mansions (notably Āśleṣā, ‘the Embracer/Serpent’). The verse uses ‘Sārpa’ as the nakṣatra-identifier for nails, likely drawing on the imagery of sharp, gripping, or coiling contact-points."}, {"question": "Does this passage describe a specific deity’s body?", "answer": "The excerpt does not name a deity, but such correspondences commonly presume a ‘cosmic person’ framework (often aligned with Viṣṇu or the universal form). The emphasis is cosmological rather than narrative."}]

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.