Vamana Purana — Nara-Narayana's Tapas, Shloka 20

Nara-Narayana’s Tapas, Indra’s Temptation, and the Burning of Kama: The Origin of Ananga and the Shiva-Linga Episode

Devanagari script

बर्हिवृन्दकलापा च सारसस्वरनूपुरा प्राग्वंशरसना ब्रह्मन् मत्तहंसगतिस्तथा

Transliteration

barhivṛndakalāpā ca sārasasvaranūpurā prāgvaṃśarasanā brahman mattahaṃsagatistathā

Translation

बर्हिवृन्द-कलापैः सा भूषिता, सारस-स्वरैर्नूपुर-झङ्कारमिव वहन्ती; प्राग्वंश-रसना, हे ब्रह्मन्, मत्तहंस-गति-समन्विता च।

Word by Word

• बर्हि-वृन्द-कलापा: having a plume/cluster like a mass of peacock-feathers
• बर्हि-वृन्द-कलापा: विशेषण
• Type: Adjective
• Root: बर्हि (प्रातिपदिक) + वृन्द (प्रातिपदिक) + कलाप (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचन; बहुव्रीहिः—यस्या कलापः बर्हिवृन्दसदृशः

• च: and
• च: सम्बन्ध
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: च (अव्यय)
• Form: समुच्चयबोधक अव्यय (conjunction)

• सारस-स्वर-नूपुरा: whose anklets sound like cranes
• सारस-स्वर-नूपुरा: विशेषण
• Type: Adjective
• Root: सारस (प्रातिपदिक) + स्वर (प्रातिपदिक) + नूपुर (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचन; बहुव्रीहिः—यस्या नूपुरयोः स्वरः सारसस्वरवत्

• प्राग्वंश-रसना: having a girdle of prāgvaṃśa (a kind of reed/bamboo)
• प्राग्वंश-रसना: विशेषण
• Type: Adjective
• Root: प्राग्वंश (प्रातिपदिक) + रसना (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचन; बहुव्रीहिः—यस्या रसना (कटिबन्धः) प्राग्वंशनिर्मिता/प्राग्वंशसदृशी

• ब्रह्मन्: O Brahman
• ब्रह्मन्: सम्बोधन
• Type: Noun
• Root: ब्रह्मन् (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, सम्बोधन (8th/Vocative), एकवचन

• मत्त-हंस-गतिः: having a gait like an intoxicated swan
• मत्त-हंस-गतिः: विशेषण
• Type: Adjective
• Root: मत्त (प्रातिपदिक) + हंस (प्रातिपदिक) + गति (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचन; बहुव्रीहिः—यस्या गतिः मत्तहंसगमनवत्

• तथा: thus/also
• तथा: सम्बन्ध
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: तथा (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय; प्रकारवाचक/समुच्चयार्थे (adverb: ‘thus/also’)

Speakers

• Not explicit in provided excerpt (likely within the Purāṇic frame dialogue
• often Pulastya → Nārada)

Primary Deities

• Vishnu (Nārāyaṇa)

Key Themes

• Sacred Geography
• Āśrama-glorification
• Nature imagery
• Bhakti (through sanctified landscape)

Verse Rasa (Emotional Flavour)

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

FAQs

What is the philosophical or ethical takeaway?

The verse sacralizes the natural world: beauty, sound, and order in nature are presented as marks of a dhārmic, purified space fit for tapas and divine presence—encouraging reverence toward sacred landscapes rather than mere aesthetic enjoyment.

How does this fit the Pancalakshana?

Primarily within Vṛtti/Upabṛṃhaṇa material supporting tīrtha-māhātmya and dharma-pravacana; it is not sarga/pratisarga proper, but a sanctifying description that typically accompanies sacred geography and pilgrimage sections.

What is the symbolic significance?

Birds and their sounds function as auspicious markers: the ‘anklet-like’ crane-calls and ‘swan-gait’ metaphor encode the idea that the āśrama itself behaves like a divine, ornamented being—suggesting the presence of sattva and spiritual refinement.