Birth of Skanda (Kartikeya) Shloka 79 - Vamana Purana | Chinese | Vedapath

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Vamana Purana — Birth of Skanda (Kartikeya), Shloka 79

The Birth and Consecration of Skanda (Kartikeya) at Kurukshetra

Devanagari script

अष्टबाहुं ददौ काशी सुबाहुमपि गण्डकी महानदी चित्रदेवं चित्रा चित्ररथं ददौ

Transliteration

aṣṭabāhuṃ dadau kāśī subāhumapi gaṇḍakī mahānadī citradevaṃ citrā citrarathaṃ dadau

Translation

迦尸（Kāśī）生出“八臂者”（Aṣṭabāhu）；犍陀迦（Gaṇḍakī）亦生出苏巴胡（Subāhu）。摩诃那底（Mahānadī）生出奇特罗提婆（Citradeva）；而奇特罗（Citrā）生出奇特罗罗他（Citraratha）。

Word by Word

अष्टबाहुम्Aṣṭabāhu (eight-armed; name)

ददौgave

काशीKāśī

सुबाहुम्Subāhu (good-armed; name)

अपिalso

गण्डकी(River) Gaṇḍakī

महानदी(River) Mahānadī

चित्रदेवम्Citradeva (name)

चित्राCitrā

चित्ररथम्Citraratha (name)

ददौgave

Speakers

Narrator (Purāṇic voice) continuing the tīrtha-linked list (speaker not explicit in the given excerpt).

Key Themes

Tīrtha Mahimā and sacred-place potencyGeographical sacralization through named manifestationsMythic etiology of heroic/superhuman figures

Verse Rasa (Emotional Flavour)

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

FAQs

Is ‘Kāśī’ here the famous Vārāṇasī, and why is it placed alongside rivers?

Kāśī is best read as the renowned sacred region/tīrtha (Vārāṇasī) in the broader Purāṇic imagination. The chapter’s method is to interweave rivers and famed holy places into one sacral geography, treating both as generative loci of merit and mythic manifestation.

What do figures like ‘Aṣṭabāhu’ (eight-armed) indicate in a tīrtha list?

They signal superhuman or semi-divine qualities. The text uses such names to encode the tīrtha’s extraordinary efficacy—its capacity to ‘produce’ beings marked by divine attributes.

How should we understand ‘Mahānadī’ and ‘Citrā’ in this context?

They function as named waterways within the Purāṇic sacred map. By attaching specific named outcomes (Citradeva, Citraratha), the text gives each river a distinctive mythic identity, aiding both memorization and ritual-geographical orientation.