Shloka 5

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

Devanagari script

रूपधारमिरावत्यां कुरुक्षेत्रे कुरुध्वजम् कृतशौचे नृसिंहं च गोकर्णे विश्वकर्मिणम्

Transliteration

rūpadhāramirāvatyāṃ kurukṣetre kurudhvajam kṛtaśauce nṛsiṃhaṃ ca gokarṇe viśvakarmiṇam

Translation

ایراوتی کے کنارے (بھگوان) روپ دھار کے نام سے؛ کوروکشیتر میں کورو دھوج کے نام سے؛ کِرت شَौچ میں نرسِمْہ کے روپ میں؛ اور گوکرن میں وِشوکرما کے نام سے (پوجے جاتے ہیں)۔

Speakers

• Likely the narrator (traditionally Pulastya) instructing Nārada in a tirtha-catalogue context (chapter-level setting).

Primary Deities

• Vishnu
• Narasimha
• Shiva
• Vishvakarman

Key Themes

• Tirtha Yatra (pilgrimage mapping)
• Kṣetra-adhidevatā (presiding deity of a place)
• Multiplicity of divine epithets across geography
• Shaiva-Vaishnava co-presence in sacred landscape

Verse Rasa (Emotional Flavour)

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

FAQs

Why does the verse list different divine names tied to different places?

This is a characteristic Purāṇic “kṣetra-devatā” mapping: the same supreme sacred power is recognized through localized epithets and iconographic forms at specific tirthas, making geography itself a theological index.

Is Viśvakarman here the artisan-god or a form of Śiva/Viṣṇu?

In tirtha-catalogues, such names often function as the presiding deity-title of the site. While Viśvakarman is classically the divine architect, the verse’s structure treats him as the adhidevatā at Gokarṇa, a Śaiva tirtha—indicating functional identification within the sacred landscape rather than strict sectarian separation.

What is the significance of Kurukṣetra being included in this list?

Kurukṣetra is a paradigmatic dharma-kṣetra. Its inclusion anchors the catalogue in pan-Indian pilgrimage memory, linking local epithets (Kurudhvaj) to a universally recognized sacred region.