Vamana Purana — Birth of Skanda (Kartikeya), Shloka 80

The Birth and Consecration of Skanda (Kartikeya) at Kurukshetra

Devanagari script

कुहूः कुवलयं प्रादान्मधुवर्णं मधूदका जम्बूकं धूतपापा च वेणा श्वेताननं ददौ

Transliteration

kuhūḥ kuvalayaṃ prādānmadhuvarṇaṃ madhūdakā jambūkaṃ dhūtapāpā ca veṇā śvetānanaṃ dadau

Translation

کُہو نے کُولَیَہ (نامی پُنیہ استھان) عطا کیا؛ مَधूदَکا نے مَधُوورْن عطا کیا۔ دھوتَپاپا نے جَمبوک عطا کیا اور وےنا نے شویتانن عطا کیا۔

Word by Word

• कुहूः: Kuhū
• कुहूः: Karta (कर्ता/Subject)
• Type: Noun
• Root: कुहू (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st/प्रथमा), एकवचन; नाम (proper noun)

• कुवलयम्: Kuvalaya (name)
• कुवलयम्: Karma (कर्म/Object)
• Type: Noun
• Root: कुवलय (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, द्वितीया (2nd/द्वितीया), एकवचन

• प्रादात्: gave
• प्रादात्: Kriya (क्रिया/Verb)
• Type: Verb
• Root: प्र-दा (धातु)
• Form: लुङ् (Aorist/लुङ्), परस्मैपद, प्रथमपुरुष (3rd), एकवचन

• मधुवर्णम्: Madhuvarṇa (honey-colored; name)
• मधुवर्णम्: Karma (कर्म/Object)
• Type: Noun
• Root: मधु-वर्ण (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, द्वितीया (2nd/द्वितीया), एकवचन; समासः षष्ठी-तत्पुरुषः/कर्मधारय-प्रायः (मधोः वर्णः / मधुवर्णः)

• मधूदका: Madhūdakā (name)
• मधूदका: Karta (कर्ता/Subject)
• Type: Noun
• Root: मधु-उदका (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st/प्रथमा), एकवचन; समासः षष्ठी-तत्पुरुषः (मधोः उदका)

• जम्बूकम्: Jambūka (name)
• जम्बूकम्: Karma (कर्म/Object)
• Type: Noun
• Root: जम्बूक (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, द्वितीया (2nd/द्वितीया), एकवचन

• धूतपापा: Dhūtapāpā (she whose sins are washed away; name)
• धूतपापा: Karta (कर्ता/Subject)
• Type: Noun
• Root: धूत-पाप (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st/प्रथमा), एकवचन; समासः बहुव्रीहिः (धूतं पापं यस्याः)

• च: and
• च: Sambandha (सम्बन्ध/connector)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: च (अव्यय)
• Form: समुच्चयार्थक-निपात (conjunction)

• वेणा: (River) Veṇā
• वेणा: Karta (कर्ता/Subject)
• Type: Noun
• Root: वेणा (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st/प्रथमा), एकवचन; नदी-नाम (proper noun)

• श्वेताननम्: Śvetānana (white-faced; name)
• श्वेताननम्: Karma (कर्म/Object)
• Type: Noun
• Root: श्वेत-आनन (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, द्वितीया (2nd/द्वितीया), एकवचन; समासः कर्मधारयः (श्वेतम् आननम् यस्य)

• ददौ: gave
• ददौ: Kriya (क्रिया/Verb)
• Type: Verb
• Root: दा (धातु)
• Form: लिट् (Perfect/लिट्), परस्मैपद, प्रथमपुरुष (3rd), एकवचन

Speakers

• Narrator/ṛṣi voice (within the Saromāhātmya frame) enumerating tīrthas to the inquiring listener (traditional frame: Pulastya to Nārada).

Primary Deities

• Vishnu
• Shiva

Key Themes

• Tīrtha-nāma-kathana (catalog of sacred waters)
• Pāpa-kṣaya (removal of sin) through tīrtha association
• Sacred geography as a mnemonic map

Verse Rasa (Emotional Flavour)

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

FAQs

Why does the verse use verbs like ‘gave/bestowed’ for place-names?

In Purāṇic tīrtha-catalogs, ‘to give’ often functions as a formula meaning ‘to assign/manifest/associate’ a named sacred spot within a larger sacred region. It is less a literal donation and more a mapping of named tīrthas and their recognized powers.

Is Dhūtapāpā a river or a general epithet?

Both usages occur in Sanskrit: it is an epithet meaning ‘sin-washing,’ and in tīrtha sections it commonly becomes a proper name for a specific sacred watercourse or bathing-place whose defining merit is pāpa-kṣaya.

What is the practical function of listing many such names?

It creates a pilgrimage ‘gazetteer’—a memorized itinerary of waters and bathing points—so that devotees can locate, praise, and ritually engage a network of sites within the Saromāhātmya landscape.