Vamana Purana — Prahlada's Pilgrimage, Shloka 13

Prahlada’s Pilgrimage and the Origin of the Sudarshana–Trishula Exchange (Jalodbhava Episode)

Devanagari script

आषाढाभ्यां तथा द्वाभ्यां द्वावूरू पूजयेद् बुधः सलिलं शिशिरं तत्र दोहदे च प्रकीर्तितम्

Transliteration

āṣāḍhābhyāṃ tathā dvābhyāṃ dvāvūrū pūjayed budhaḥ salilaṃ śiśiraṃ tatra dohade ca prakīrtitam

Translation

เมื่อประกอบกับนักษัตรอาษาฒาทั้งสอง ผู้มีปัญญาพึงบูชาต้นขาทั้งสอง ณ ที่นั้นในกาลโดหทะ ได้กล่าวกำหนดให้ถวาย ‘น้ำเย็น’ เป็นเครื่องบูชา.

Speakers

• Not specified in the excerpt (likely a narrator/ṛṣi instructing a listener within the Saro-māhātmya frame).

Primary Deities

• Vishnu

Key Themes

• Nakshatra-based ritual timing
• Aṅga-pūjā (limb worship)
• Ritual offerings (water)
• Vrata discipline
• Tirtha-related merit

Verse Rasa (Emotional Flavour)

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

FAQs

Why are the ‘two Āṣāḍhās’ mentioned together?

The lunar mansion system includes paired nakṣatras with shared naming (Pūrvāṣāḍhā and Uttarāṣāḍhā). The rite treats them as a unit for a single aṅga-pūjā instruction, here linked to worship of the thighs.

What is the significance of offering ‘cool water’ (śiśira-salila)?

Water is a primary purifier and a common tīrtha-offering. Specifying ‘cool’ water suggests a regulated, sattvic offering aligned with the seasonal/ritual moment called dohada, and it may also reflect a cooling, pacifying (śānti) intent within the vrata.

Does this verse indicate a specific sacred water-body?

Not directly. It prescribes ‘salila’ as an offering, but no named river or lake appears in the line. Any identification of a particular water-body would have to come from surrounding verses of Adhyāya 54.