Vamana Purana — Ritadhvaja Aids Galava, Shloka 3
Ritadhvaja’s Aid to Galava and Andhaka’s Infatuation with Gauri
पुलस्त्य उवाच आसीन्नृपो रघुकुले रिपुजिन्महर्षे तस्यात्मजो गुमगणैकनिर्धिर्महात्मा सूरो ऽसैन्यदमनो बलवान् सुहृत्सु विप्रान्धदीनकृपणेषु समानभावः // वम्प्_33.2 ऋतध्वजो नाम महान् महीयान् स गालवार्थे तुरगाधिपूढः पातालकेतुं निजघान पृष्ठे बाणेन चन्द्रार्धनिभेन वेगात्
pulastya uvāca āsīnnṛpo raghukule ripujinmaharṣe tasyātmajo gumagaṇaikanirdhirmahātmā sūro 'sainyadamano balavān suhṛtsu viprāndhadīnakṛpaṇeṣu samānabhāvaḥ // VamP_33.2 ṛtadhvajo nāma mahān mahīyān sa gālavārthe turagādhipūḍhaḥ pātālaketuṃ nijaghāna pṛṣṭhe bāṇena candrārdhanibhena vegāt
Pulastya said: “O great sage, there was a king in the Raghu lineage, a conqueror of enemies. His son was a great-souled man, an ocean of countless virtues—heroic, capable of subduing foes even without an army, strong, and of equal regard toward friends, brahmins, and toward the blind, the poor, and the destitute. That eminent and illustrious one was named Ṛtadhvaja. For the sake of (a task connected with) Gālava, having mounted the lord of horses, he struck down Pātālaketu from behind with a swift arrow resembling a half-moon.”
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FAQs
The epithet signals a heroic-ethical ideal: the king’s personal valor and strategic capacity are so great that he can neutralize threats without relying on mass violence. In Purāṇic style, it also elevates him as a dhārmic protector suited to assist sages like Gālava.
Ṛta denotes cosmic order/truth (a Vedic concept). ‘Ṛtadhvaja’ (‘banner of ṛta’) frames the king as one whose sovereignty is aligned with truth and right order—an important Purāṇic marker of legitimate rule.
Here it is a proper name of a daitya/hostile figure. The element ‘Pātāla’ evokes the netherworld, but the verse narrates a combat event rather than a pilgrimage geography; no tīrtha is identified in this line.