Vamana Purana — Merit of Shravana Dvadashi, Shloka 22

The Merit of Śravaṇa-Dvādaśī and the Liberation of a Preta through Gayā Piṇḍa-Rites

Devanagari script

ततो ऽपरो योजनकोटिना वै लोको जनो नाम वस्न्ति यत्र गोमातरो ऽस्मासु विनाशकारि यासां रजो ऽपीह महासुरेन्द्र

Transliteration

tato 'paro yojanakoṭinā vai loko jano nāma vasnti yatra gomātaro 'smāsu vināśakāri yāsāṃ rajo 'pīha mahāsurendra

Translation

ถัดจากนั้นไปอีกหนึ่งโกฏิโยชน์ มีโลกชื่อว่า ‘ชนโลก’ ที่ซึ่งเหล่า ‘โคมารดา’ สถิตอยู่ ข้าแต่มหาอสุเรนทร์ แม้เพียงธุลีที่พวกนางฟุ้งขึ้น ณ ที่นี้ก็ยังเป็นเหตุแห่งความพินาศแก่พวกเรา

Speakers

• Narrator/teacher addressing an Asura-king (mahāsurendra) (exact named speakers not provided in prompt)

Primary Deities

• None explicitly named in this verse

Key Themes

• Cosmic geography by measured distances
• Hierarchy of lokas
• Inaccessibility/power of higher realms
• Otherworldly beings (go-mātaraḥ)

Verse Rasa (Emotional Flavour)

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

FAQs

What is ‘Jana-loka’ in Purāṇic cosmology?

Jana-loka is one of the higher worlds above the human sphere, typically associated with great beings (often mind-born sages or purified classes of beings). Here it is located by a vast distance measure (yojana-koṭi), emphasizing its remoteness.

Who are the ‘go-mātaraḥ’ and why is their ‘dust’ said to be destructive?

The term literally means “cow-mothers,” a reverential designation for a powerful, sanctified class of beings. The statement that even their dust is destructive to ‘us’ functions as a cosmological boundary-marker: beings of lower realms (here, the Asura perspective) cannot endure the potency (tejas) of higher-world inhabitants.

Is this verse describing a pilgrimage geography (tīrtha) or a cosmic geography?

It is cosmic geography. The Vāmana Purāṇa often maps sacred space, but here the ‘place’ is a supra-terrestrial loka rather than an earthly river/forest/tīrtha.