Śūrpāraka
Śūrpāraka
Śūrpāraka is the kshetra where Bhagavān Vishṇu abides as Caturbhuja, the four-armed one. The Vāmana Purāṇa names it three times. Among the lands of Bhārata it stands first in the list of the western janapadas. Prahlāda, the great bhāgavata, came there on his long tīrthayātrā and served Caturbhuja. And Bhagavān Vāmana himself, naming to Bharadvāja Maharshi the holy places where his forms abide, says that at Śūrpāraka his form is Caturbhuja. Of all those places he declares that whoever sees, touches, praises and remembers the devatās there attains all four purushārthas, the four aims of life.
Among the western janapadas
The maharshis, describing Kumāra-dvīpa (the land of Bhārata) to the rākshasa king Sukeśī, name its peoples and countries direction by direction. The western janapadas (countries) are nineteen: Sūrpāraka, Kārivana, Durga, Tāḷīkaṭa, Puḷīya, Sasinīla, Tāpasa, Tāmasa, Kāraskara, Ramina, Nāsikyāntara, Narmadā, Bhārakaccha, Māheya, Sārasvata, Vātseya, Saurāshṭra, Avantya and Arbuda.
Source: Vāmana Purāṇa, Chapter 13
Prahlāda at Śūrpāraka
Pulastya Maharshi tells Nārada Maharshi the tīrthayātrā of Prahlāda, the son of the daitya king, who went across the whole land bathing in the tīrthas and worshipping Bhagavān Vishṇu and Bhagavān Śiva in their many forms. Near the end of the journey Prahlāda went to Plakshāvataraṇa and served Śrīnivāsa there. Then he went to Kuṇḍinapura and worshipped the Prāṇarakshaka, the protector of life. From there he came to the Śūrpāraka kshetra and served Caturbhuja, the four-armed one. Then he went on to Magadhāraṇya and worshipped Viśveśa, and so on to Śālagrāma, where the journey ends.
Pulastya closes the account with its phalaśruti (the fruit of hearing it): “Nārada, I have told you the puṇya-giving account of the tīrthayātrā of the mahābhāgavata Prahlāda. A man who sings it, hears it, or gives it to others is freed from all pāpas (wrongdoings).”
Source: Vāmana Purāṇa, Chapter 57
Caturbhuja, a form of Bhagavān Vāmana
The second pāpa-śamana stotra, told by Agastya Maharshi, salutes Caturbhuja, the four-armed, together with Vasudhāvallabha, the beloved lord of the earth, Vanaspati, the lord of the forest, Paśupati, and Avyaya, the imperishable one.
After his upanayana, Bhagavān Vāmana names to Bharadvāja Maharshi the places where his forms abide, and says: at Śūrpāraka, Caturbhuja. He names the same form again for the whole of Jambūdvīpa: “In Jambūdvīpa I am Caturbhuja.”
Of all these places Bhagavān Vāmana says that they are eternal, ancient and holy; they give dharma, are full of tejas (radiance), destroy pāpa and are always to be praised. If devas, humans and sādhyas practise darśana (seeing), sparśana (touching), kīrtana (praising) and smaraṇa (remembering) of these devatās, they attain all four purushārthas: dharma, artha, kāma and moksha. This is certain.
Source: Vāmana Purāṇa, Chapters 61, 63
Sources
- Vāmana Purāṇa, Chapters 13, 57, 61, 63