Vamana Purana — Harihara Revelation, Shloka 8

Harihara Revelation and the Kurukshetra Tirtha Cycle: Sthanu in Vishnu and the Sanctification of Saptasarasvata

Devanagari script

लुब्धत्वं लोलुपत्वं च लब्धधर्मार्थनाशनम् लालासंकीर्णमेवोक्तमष्टमं नरकं स्मृतम्

Transliteration

lubdhatvaṃ lolupatvaṃ ca labdhadharmārthanāśanam lālāsaṃkīrṇamevoktamaṣṭamaṃ narakaṃ smṛtam

Translation

حرص، طمع، اور حاصل شدہ دھرم و اَرتھ (دولت) کا ضیاع و بربادی—اسے ‘لالاسنکیرن’ کہا گیا ہے؛ یہ آٹھواں دوزخ یاد کیا گیا ہے۔

Word by Word

• lubdhatvam: greediness
• lubdhatvam: Karma (कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: lubdha (कृदन्त; √lubh लुभ्यति) + -tva (प्रत्यय)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा/द्वितीया, एकवचन; भाववाचक-संज्ञा

• lolupatvam: covetousness
• lolupatvam: Karma (कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: lolupa (प्रातिपदिक) + -tva (प्रत्यय)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा/द्वितीया, एकवचन; भाववाचक-संज्ञा

• ca: and
• ca: Sambandha (सम्बन्ध/निपात)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: ca (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय; समुच्चयार्थक-निपातः (conjunction)

• labdha-dharma-artha-nāśanam: destroying acquired dharma and wealth
• labdha-dharma-artha-nāśanam: Karma (कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: labdha (कृदन्त; √labh लभते) + dharma (प्रातिपदिक) + artha (प्रातिपदिक) + nāśana (प्रातिपदिक; √naś नश्यति)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा/द्वितीया, एकवचन; समासः—तत्पुरुषः (लब्धस्य धर्मार्थयोः नाशनम्)

• lālā-saṃkīrṇam: spattered with saliva
• lālā-saṃkīrṇam: Viśeṣaṇa (विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: lālā (प्रातिपदिक) + saṃkīrṇa (कृदन्त; √kṝ/√kṛ? here √kṝ/√kīrṇ ‘to scatter’, saṃkīrṇa as adj.)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा/द्वितीया, एकवचन; समासः—तत्पुरुषः (लालया संकीर्णम् = spattered with saliva)

• eva: indeed/just
• eva: Sambandha (सम्बन्ध/निपात)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: eva (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय; अवधारणार्थक-निपातः (emphasis)

• uktam: is said
• uktam: Kriyā (क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: ukta (कृदन्त; √vac वदति), कर्मणि भूतकृदन्त
• Form: भूतकृदन्त (क्त), नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा/द्वितीया, एकवचन; कर्मणि—‘(इदं) उक्तम्’ = ‘is said’

• aṣṭamam: eighth
• aṣṭamam: Viśeṣaṇa (विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: aṣṭama (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा/द्वितीया, एकवचन; क्रमवाचक-विशेषणम्

• narakam: hell
• narakam: Karma (कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: naraka (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, द्वितीया (2nd/द्वितीया), एकवचन

• smṛtam: is declared
• smṛtam: Kriyā (क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: smṛta (कृदन्त; √smṛ स्मरति), कर्मणि भूतकृदन्त
• Form: भूतकृदन्त (क्त), नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा/द्वितीया, एकवचन; कर्मणि—‘is remembered/declared’

Speakers

• Narrator/teacher voice within the Purāṇic dialogue (moral psychology of vice leading to naraka).

Primary Deities

• Yama (implied)

Key Themes

• Moral psychology of greed
• Misuse of wealth and merit
• Karmic degradation of dharma through vice
• Naraka as ethical deterrent

Verse Rasa (Emotional Flavour)

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

FAQs

How do ‘lubdhatva’ and ‘lolupatva’ differ?

Lubdhatva is the stable disposition of greed (wanting more), while lolupatva is a more intense, grasping rapacity—an impulsive craving that overrides restraint. The verse treats both as drivers of ruin.

What does ‘labdha-dharma-artha-nāśanam’ criticize?

Not poverty, but self-caused loss: after gaining dharma (merit, right standing) and artha (resources), one destroys them through vice—waste, unethical indulgence, or actions that erode both moral capital and material stability.

Why the name ‘Lālāsaṃkīrṇa’?

The imagery of ‘lālā’ (saliva/drooling) evokes uncontrolled appetite; ‘saṃkīrṇa’ suggests a polluted, confused condition. The hell-name thus encodes the moral diagnosis: craving that mixes and defiles judgment, leading to the collapse of dharma and artha.