Vamana Purana — Akhanda Ekadashi Vrata, Shloka 9

Akhaṇḍa-Ekādaśī Vrata and the Vaiṣṇava Protective Hymn; Prelude to the Kātyāyanī–Mahiṣāsura Narrative

Devanagari script

नागानां पतये ब्रह्मञ्छरस्तम्बो व्यजायत वासुकेर्विस्तृते पुच्छे पृष्ठे दूर्वा सितासिता

Transliteration

nāgānāṃ pataye brahmañcharastambo vyajāyata vāsukervistṛte pucche pṛṣṭhe dūrvā sitāsitā

Translation

婆罗门啊，为那伽之主生起了舍罗丛（śara-stambha），即一簇芦苇。于婆苏吉（Vāsuki）舒展的尾与背上，杜尔瓦草（dūrvā）——白与黑——随之滋生。

Word by Word

• नागानाम्: of the nāgas (serpents)
• नागानाम्: सम्बन्ध (षष्ठी/Genitive relation)
• Type: Noun
• Root: नाग (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, षष्ठी, बहुवचन — Genitive plural

• पतये: for/to the lord
• पतये: सम्प्रदान (सम्प्रदान/Recipient)
• Type: Noun
• Root: पति (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, चतुर्थी (4th/चतुर्थी), एकवचन — Dative singular

• ब्रह्मन्: O Brahman!
• ब्रह्मन्: सम्बोधन (Address)
• Type: Noun
• Root: ब्रह्मन् (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, सम्बोधन (8th/सम्बोधन), एकवचन — Vocative singular

• शरस्तम्बः: a clump of reeds
• शरस्तम्बः: कर्ता (कर्ता/Subject)
• Type: Noun
• Root: शरस् (प्रातिपदिक) + स्तम्ब (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: तत्पुरुष-समास (शरसेषु/शराणां स्तम्बः); पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचन — Nominative singular

• व्यजायत: was born/appeared
• व्यजायत: क्रिया (क्रिया/Predicate)
• Type: Verb
• Root: जन् (धातु)
• Form: लङ्-लकार, प्रथमपुरुष, एकवचन; उपसर्ग ‘वि’ — ‘was produced/arose’

• वासुकेः: of Vāsuki
• वासुकेः: सम्बन्ध (षष्ठी/Genitive relation)
• Type: Noun
• Root: वासुकि (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, षष्ठी, एकवचन — Genitive singular

• विस्तृते: spread out, extended
• विस्तृते: विशेषण (विशेषण/Qualifier)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: वि + स्तृ (धातु) → विस्तृत (कृदन्त, क्त)
• Form: क्त-कृदन्त; नपुंसकलिङ्ग, सप्तमी, एकवचन — Locative singular; agrees with पुच्छे

• पुच्छे: on the tail
• पुच्छे: अधिकरण (अधिकरण/Location)
• Type: Noun
• Root: पुच्छ (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, सप्तमी, एकवचन — Locative singular

• पृष्ठे: on the back
• पृष्ठे: अधिकरण (अधिकरण/Location)
• Type: Noun
• Root: पृष्ठ (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, सप्तमी, एकवचन — Locative singular

• दूर्वा: dūrvā grass
• दूर्वा: कर्ता (कर्ता/Subject)
• Type: Noun
• Root: दूर्वा (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचन — Nominative singular

• सिता: white
• सिता: विशेषण (विशेषण/Qualifier)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: सित (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचन — Nominative singular; agrees with दूर्वा

• असिता: dark/blackish
• असिता: विशेषण (विशेषण/Qualifier)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: असित (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचन — Nominative singular; coordinate epithet

Speakers

• Likely Pulastya to Nārada (standard frame; not explicit in excerpt)

Primary Deities

• Nāga-lord (generic)
• Vāsuki

Key Themes

• Nāga lore
• Sacred grasses in ritual
• Mythic etiology (origin accounts)

Verse Rasa (Emotional Flavour)

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

FAQs

What is the philosophical or ethical takeaway?

The verse extends sanctity to liminal beings (nāgas) and to humble ritual materials (grass, reeds), teaching that purity and sacred power can reside in what seems ordinary, and that ritual order mirrors cosmic order.

How does this fit the Pancalakshana?

Again, sarga/pratisarga-style etiological listing: it explains how particular plants are connected with particular classes of beings in the manifested world.

What is the symbolic significance?

Dūrvā, widely used in worship and for longevity rites, being ‘on’ Vāsuki suggests life-force (prāṇa) and continuity; the white/dark polarity can symbolize auspicious/inauspicious or day/night dualities harmonized under a cosmic serpent archetype.