Vamana Purana — Rudra's Wrath & Kalarupa, Shloka 35
Rudra’s Wrath at Daksha’s Sacrifice and the Iconography of Kālarūpa through the Zodiac
आदित्यांशश्च पुष्यं च आश्लेषा शशिनो गृहम् राशिः कर्कटको नाम पार्श्वे मखविनाशिनः/थ 5.34 पित्र्यर्क्षं भगदैवत्यमुत्तरांश् च केसरी सूर्यक्षेत्रं विभोर्ब्रह्मन् हृदयं परिगीयते
ādityāṃśaśca puṣyaṃ ca āśleṣā śaśino gṛham rāśiḥ karkaṭako nāma pārśve makhavināśinaḥ/tha 5.34 pitryarkṣaṃ bhagadaivatyamuttarāṃś ca kesarī sūryakṣetraṃ vibhorbrahman hṛdayaṃ parigīyate
The Āditya portion, Puṣya, and Āśleṣā are the house of the Moon. The zodiac sign named Karkaṭaka (Cancer) is on the side of the destroyer of (Dakṣa’s) sacrifice. The Pitṛ-nakṣatra, whose deity is Bhaga, and the Uttarā (nakṣatra group) are (also assigned); O brāhmaṇa, the Sun’s region is sung as the heart of that Lord.
{ "primaryRasa": "shanta", "secondaryRasa": "adbhuta", "rasaIntensity": 0, "emotionalArcPosition": "", "moodDescriptors": [] }
FAQs
The passage fuses myth (Śiva as the corrector of ritual arrogance in Dakṣa’s sacrifice) with cosmology (Sun/Moon regions and nakṣatras). The implied lesson is that ritual power must be grounded in humility and right order; cosmic order mirrors moral order.
Primarily Sarga/Pratisarga (cosmic structuring). The epithet ‘makhavināśin’ gestures to an Itihāsa-like mythic episode, but here it functions as identification within a cosmological catalogue.
Calling the ‘Sun’s field’ the Lord’s heart makes Sūrya the inner luminous principle of the deity’s cosmic body—linking external time/illumination with inner consciousness. The flank assignment to Karkaṭa (a watery sign) can suggest protective containment and nurturing, placed on the ‘side’ of the Lord who disciplines misdirected sacrifice.