Vamana Purana — Shukra's Curse on King Danda, Shloka 28

Shukra’s Curse on King Danda and Andhaka’s Challenge to Shiva

Devanagari script

तत्र स्थितैका सुदती विश्वकर्मतनुरुहा चित्राङ्गदा सुचार्वङ्गी वीक्षन्ती तनुमध्यमे

Transliteration

tatra sthitaikā sudatī viśvakarmatanuruhā citrāṅgadā sucārvaṅgī vīkṣantī tanumadhyame

Translation

彼处立有一位绝美的女子——相传由毗湿瓦羯摩（Viśvakarman）之身所生——名曰“奇特罗昂伽达”(Citrāṅgadā)，肢体娟丽，腰身纤细，正凝神观望。

Speakers

• Narrator voice introducing/depicting Citrāṅgadā within the ongoing Pushkara episode.

Primary Deities

• Viśvakarman

Key Themes

• Mythic genealogy/origin (viśvakarma-tanū-ruhā)
• Auspicious beauty-description (strī-lakṣaṇa)
• Pilgrimage setting as stage for encounters

Verse Rasa (Emotional Flavour)

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

FAQs

Who is Viśvakarman, and what does ‘arisen from his body’ imply?

Viśvakarman is the divine artisan/architect in Vedic-Purāṇic tradition. ‘Tanū-ruhā’ signals a non-ordinary, crafted or divinely generated origin—often used to heighten a character’s exceptional status within a tīrtha narrative.

Is Citrāṅgadā here the same as the Mahābhārata’s Citrāṅgadā?

The name is shared across traditions, but identity cannot be assumed from this verse alone. Purāṇas frequently reuse names; confirmation requires the surrounding narrative (relationships, deeds, and explicit identifiers).

Why does the text linger on physical descriptors like ‘sucārvaṅgī’ and ‘tanumadhyamā’?

Such descriptors are conventional markers in Sanskrit narrative to signal auspiciousness, attraction, and narrative importance—often foreshadowing an encounter, choice, or test connected to the tīrtha setting.