Vamana Purana — Sacred Abodes of Vishnu & Shiva, Shloka 21

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

Devanagari script

उदये शशिनं सूर्यं ध्रुवं च त्रितयं स्थितम् हेमकूटे हिरण्याक्षं स्कन्दं शरवणे मुने

Transliteration

udaye śaśinaṃ sūryaṃ dhruvaṃ ca tritayaṃ sthitam hemakūṭe hiraṇyākṣaṃ skandaṃ śaravaṇe mune

Translation

உதயத்தில் சந்திரன், சூரியன், துருவன்—இந்த மூவரும் அங்கே நிறுவப்பட்டு வழிபடப்படுகின்றனர். ஹேமகூடத்தில் ஹிரண்யாக்ஷன்; முனிவரே, சரவணத்தில் ஸ்கந்தன் விளங்குகின்றான்.

Speakers

• Narrator/teacher addressing a sage (vocative: mune); specific interlocutors not stated in the given excerpt.

Primary Deities

• Chandra
• Surya
• Dhruva
• Skanda (Kartikeya)

Key Themes

• Pilgrimage geography linking celestial deities to terrestrial sites
• Triadic worship (Sun–Moon–Dhruva) as a localized cult
• Skanda’s sacred landscape (Śaravaṇa)

Verse Rasa (Emotional Flavour)

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

FAQs

Why are Sun, Moon, and Dhruva grouped together at Udaya?

The verse presents Udaya as a site where a ‘tritaya’ of celestial powers is ritually ‘established’. Dhruva complements Sun and Moon as the fixed cosmic pivot, making the triad a compact cosmological map expressed through pilgrimage.

How can an asura like Hiraṇyākṣa be ‘at’ Hemakūṭa?

In tīrtha-catalogues, names can mark (a) a shrine/legendary association, (b) a local toponym derived from a myth, or (c) a remembered event tied to that place. The verse signals Hemakūṭa’s fame through the Hiraṇyākṣa association without necessarily implying his worship as a deity.

What does Śaravaṇa indicate in relation to Skanda?

Śaravaṇa evokes the ‘reed/grass thicket’ setting prominent in Skanda’s birth-cycle traditions (Śaravaṇa/Śaravaṇabhava). The Purāṇic geography anchors Skanda’s mythic origins to a visitable sacred locale.