Vamana Purana — Sacred Abodes of Vishnu & Shiva, Shloka 24

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

Devanagari script

शोणे च रुक्मकवचं कुण्डिने घ्राणतर्पणम् भिल्लीवने महायोगं माद्रेषु पुरुषोत्तमम्

Transliteration

śoṇe ca rukmakavacaṃ kuṇḍine ghrāṇatarpaṇam bhillīvane mahāyogaṃ mādreṣu puruṣottamam

Translation

[{"question": "Why is ‘paradāraniṣevaṇa’ singled out so strongly?", "answer": "In dharma literature, violating another’s marriage is treated as a major social and ritual transgression because it destabilizes lineage (gotra/vaṃśa), household order (gṛhastha-dharma), and trust—hence its frequent linkage with naraka and degraded rebirth."}, {"question": "What is the function of specifying ‘a thousand years’ in hell?", "answer": "Puranas often quantify punishment to underscore proportional karmic fruition and to make the moral lesson vivid. The number also signals that release is possible after expiation is exhausted, but the residual imprint can still yield an animal rebirth."}, {"question": "Why a ‘white donkey’ specifically?", "answer": "The donkey is a common emblem of burden, humiliation, and low social valuation in Sanskrit narrative. The ‘white’ descriptor individualizes the rebirth for recognition within the story and may mark an unusual, memorable form rather than a separate doctrinal category."}]

Word by Word

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Speakers

• Narrator/teacher continuing the enumerative tīrtha list to a Brahmin addressee

Primary Deities

• Vishnu
• Shiva

Key Themes

• Pilgrimage network spanning rivers, forests, and ethnoregions
• Localization of divine epithets into specific shrines
• Vaiṣṇava presence (Puruṣottama) within a broader multi-sect tīrtha map

Verse Rasa (Emotional Flavour)

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

FAQs

What does it mean when the text says ‘on the Śoṇa’ (śoṇe)?

Such locatives typically indicate a riverine tīrtha—either a bathing-ghāṭ, a confluence point, or a shrine situated on the riverbank—where the named deity-form (here Rukmakavaca) is venerated.

Is ‘Puruṣottama’ here the same as the famous Jagannātha/Puruṣottama-kṣetra?

The verse locates Puruṣottama ‘among the Mādras,’ so it is presenting a regional shrine bearing the Viṣṇu epithet Puruṣottama, not necessarily identical with the coastal Puruṣottama-kṣetra of later pan-Indian fame.

How should we understand unusual tīrtha-names like Ghrāṇatarpaṇa?

Tīrtha catalogues preserve local cult-titles that may encode a specific ritual (tarpaṇa/propitiation), a bodily/medical association (ghrāṇa/nose), or a now-obscure myth. The Purāṇic function is to authorize the place by naming it within the sacred map.