Vamana Purana — Gajendra's Deliverance, Shloka 23

Gajendra’s Deliverance and the Protective Power of Remembrance (Japa)

Devanagari script

गृहीतस्तेन रौद्रेण ग्राहेणाव्यक्तमूर्तिना पश्यन्तीनां करेणूनां क्रोशन्तीनां च दारुणम्

Transliteration

gṛhītastena raudreṇa grāheṇāvyaktamūrtinā paśyantīnāṃ kareṇūnāṃ krośantīnāṃ ca dāruṇam

Translation

{"recitation_mood": "reverent and explanatory", "suggested_raga": "Yaman", "pace": "medium", "voice_tone": "clear, didactic, calm", "sound_elements": ["gentle water lapping", "soft temple bell", "low drone (tanpura)"]}

Speakers

• Narrator voice within the Purāṇic dialogue (exact interlocutors not specified in the excerpt)

Key Themes

• Peril in sacred waters
• Grāha (crocodile/seizer) motif
• Compassion/pathos via the herd’s lament
• Foreshadowing of rescue or moral teaching

Verse Rasa (Emotional Flavour)

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

FAQs

What does “grāha” mean here—astrological ‘graha’ or crocodile?

The context is aquatic attack and seizure; thus grāha is the ‘seizer’ in water—typically a crocodile/alligator or water-monster—distinct from graha ‘planet’.

Why describe the grāha as “avyakta-mūrti” (indistinct form)?

It reflects the realism of an underwater predator—its body obscured by water, plants, or depth—and also adds a numinous tone, making the threat feel uncanny and fated within a sacred-site narrative.

How does the herd’s reaction contribute to Purāṇic meaning?

The kareṇūs’ cries intensify the scene’s ‘dāruṇatā’ (horror) and prepare for a didactic or salvific turn typical of māhātmya episodes—where distress at a tīrtha becomes the occasion for revealing the site’s power or a deity’s grace.