Vamana Purana — Sacred Abodes of Vishnu & Shiva, Shloka 14

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

Devanagari script

महोदये हयग्रीवं प्रयागे योगशायिनम् स्वयंभुवं मधुवते अयोगन्धिं च पुष्करे

Transliteration

mahodaye hayagrīvaṃ prayāge yogaśāyinam svayaṃbhuvaṃ madhuvate ayogandhiṃ ca puṣkare

Translation

مہودَی میں ہَیَگریو کو جاننا چاہیے؛ پریاگ میں یوگشائی؛ مدھون میں سویمبھُو؛ اور پُشکر میں اَیوگندھی۔

Speakers

• Sūta (narrator) to assembled sages (ṛṣis) / vipras (contextual address continues in next verse)

Primary Deities

• Vishnu
• Hayagriva

Key Themes

• Tirtha Yatra (pilgrimage mapping)
• Kṣetra-devatā correspondence (deity-to-place linkage)
• Viṣṇu’s multiple localized manifestations

Verse Rasa (Emotional Flavour)

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

FAQs

Why does the text list different names of Viṣṇu in different places?

This is a kṣetra-māhātmya convention: the Purāṇa maps sacred geography by assigning a specific mūrti/epithet to each tīrtha. The same supreme deity is approached through localized forms that encode the site’s ritual identity and mythic memory.

Is “Svayaṃbhu” here a Śaiva linga or a Vaiṣṇava form?

“Svayaṃbhu” is a cross-sectarian epithet meaning “self-manifest.” In this verse it functions as a kṣetra-name for the resident deity; the surrounding list is predominantly Vaiṣṇava, so it is best read as a self-manifest Viṣṇu-sthāna unless the chapter’s broader context explicitly shifts to liṅga-topography.

What is the geographical significance of Prayāga in such enumerations?

Prayāga is treated as a pan-Indian nodal tīrtha: a confluence-site that anchors pilgrimage networks. Naming a specific Viṣṇu-form (Yogaśāyī) there integrates Vaiṣṇava worship into the broader tīrtha economy of bathing, śrāddha, and vow-observance.