Vamana Purana — Sarasvata Hymn to Vishnu, Shloka 51

The Sarasvata Hymn to Vishnu (Vishnu-Pañjara) and the Redemption of a Rakshasa

Devanagari script

आबाल्यान्मम पापेषु न धर्मेषु रतं मनः तत्पापासंक्षयान्मोक्षं प्राप्नुयां येन तद् वद

Transliteration

ābālyānmama pāpeṣu na dharmeṣu rataṃ manaḥ tatpāpāsaṃkṣayānmokṣaṃ prāpnuyāṃ yena tad vada

Translation

بچپن ہی سے میرا دل دھرم میں نہیں بلکہ گناہوں میں لگا رہا ہے۔ ان گناہوں کے زوال سے جس ذریعے میں موکش پا سکوں— وہ مجھے بتا۔

Speakers

• Unspecified petitioner/sufferer addressing a dvija (brahmin) interlocutor (continued explicitly in 59.52).

Key Themes

• Confession and repentance
• Karmic demerit and purification
• Mokṣa as goal
• Role of a brāhmaṇa teacher (dvija)

Verse Rasa (Emotional Flavour)

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

FAQs

Why does the speaker emphasize ‘from childhood’ (ābālyāt)?

It frames the problem as long-standing saṃskāra (habitual conditioning), implying that ordinary, sporadic merit may be insufficient; hence the request is for a decisive purificatory means (often tīrtha-snāna, vrata, dāna, japa, or śiva/viṣṇu-bhakti in Purāṇic idiom).

Is mokṣa here presented as attainable through ‘sin-destruction’ alone?

Purāṇas commonly describe mokṣa pragmatically: pāpa-kṣaya removes obstacles, enabling knowledge/bhakti and the fruition of grace. The verse asks for the upāya that effects pāpa-saṃkṣaya leading to mokṣa, not merely moral improvement.

What is the implied setting of this request in the Vāmana Purāṇa?

Adhyāya 59 is situated in the Saro-mahātmya stream, where liberation is frequently linked to sacred geography (tīrthas) and their prescribed observances; the speaker seeks the specific prescription from a dvija authority.