Vamana Purana — Jabali Bound by the Monkey, Shloka 35
Jabali Bound by the Monkey: Nandayanti’s Ordeal and the Yamuna–Hiranyavati Sacred Corridor
ततो ऽपश्यं कपिवरं सो ऽवदन्मां क्व यास्यसि इमां देववतीं गृह्यं मूढ न्यस्तां महाश्रमे
tato 'paśyaṃ kapivaraṃ so 'vadanmāṃ kva yāsyasi imāṃ devavatīṃ gṛhyaṃ mūḍha nyastāṃ mahāśrame
随后我看见一位上等之猴。他对我说：“你要往哪里去？愚人啊！你既夺取了这位天女德瓦瓦蒂（Devavatī），便被安置在这座大隐修林（大阿湿罗摩）中。”
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FAQs
The form devavatīm can function as a proper name (Devavatī) and also carries the adjectival sense ‘divine-like’. In Purāṇic narrative style, such forms often preserve a character’s name while simultaneously praising her status/beauty.
Nyastā (‘placed/left/deposited’) with mahāśrama indicates the action occurs within or at the boundary of an āśrama—an ascetic sanctuary. Such spaces are frequently treated as ritually protected zones where transgression (abduction, violence) becomes especially blameworthy.
Kapivara figures can serve as liminal guardians in forest-āśrama narratives—creatures of the wilderness who nonetheless align with dharma. The ‘best of monkeys’ trope also evokes the broader epic-Purāṇic cultural memory of kapi protectors (e.g., Hanumān-type paradigms), even when not explicitly identified.