Shloka 96
The Manifestation of Viṣṇu’s Footprints: Vāmana–Trivikrama, Bāṣkali’s Subjugation, and the Rise of Viṣṇupadī
Gaṅgā
नाधमः कश्चिदप्यास्ते तस्मिन्राजनि दानवे । दीनो वा व्यधितो वापि अल्पायुर्वाथ दुःखितः
nādhamaḥ kaścidapyāste tasminrājani dānave | dīno vā vyadhito vāpi alpāyurvātha duḥkhitaḥ
في عهد ذلك الملك الديتيا لم يكن أحدٌ وضيعًا أو دنيئًا؛ ولم يكن أحدٌ فقيرًا أو مريضًا أو قصيرَ العمر أو شقيًّا.
Unspecified narrator (Purāṇic narration; speaker not explicit in the provided verse alone)
Concept: Just governance manifests as the removal of social suffering—poverty, disease, premature death, and unhappiness.
Application: Measure leadership (personal or institutional) by whether it reduces suffering and increases dignity; cultivate policies/choices that protect the vulnerable.
Primary Rasa: shanta
Secondary Rasa: adbhuta
Type: city
Visual Art Cues: {"scene_description":"A vast, orderly city under a Dānava king’s reign: clean streets, full granaries, physicians idle for lack of patients, and citizens with serene faces. The king sits in a high hall, not in menace but in composed authority, while prosperity symbols—overflowing jars, ripe fields, and calm animals—surround the scene.","primary_figures":["Dānava king (unnamed)","citizens (men, women, elders, children)","court attendants"],"setting":"Prosperous fortified city with palace audience hall, marketplaces, and distant cultivated fields","lighting_mood":"golden dawn","color_palette":["saffron gold","emerald green","ivory white","deep maroon","lapis blue"],"tanjore_prompt":"Tanjore painting style: a regal Dānava king seated on a jewel-studded throne in a grand mandapa, citizens offering baskets of grain and flowers, overflowing kalashas and lotus motifs, gold leaf halos and architectural borders, rich reds and greens, ornate crowns and armlets, symmetrical composition, devotional serenity despite the asuric court.","pahari_prompt":"Pahari miniature style: a tranquil cityscape with terraced fields and distant hills, the Dānava king in a modestly ornate court, citizens smiling and healthy, delicate brushwork and lyrical naturalism, cool greens and blues, refined faces, soft atmospheric perspective, birds gliding over a calm riverless plain.","kerala_mural_prompt":"Kerala mural style: bold black outlines, the king in stylized profile with elaborate ornaments, rows of content citizens, granaries and kalashas as iconographic prosperity signs, temple-wall aesthetic with red/yellow/green palette, large expressive eyes, rhythmic decorative borders.","pichwai_prompt":"Pichwai cloth painting style: prosperity tableau framed by intricate floral borders and lotus vines, citizens in celebratory procession, peacocks and cows symbolizing abundance, deep indigo background with gold detailing, central court scene rendered like a devotional festival panel (even in a non-Krishna narrative), dense ornamentation and patterned textiles."}
Audio Atmosphere: {"recitation_mood":"narrative","suggested_raga":"Yaman","pace":"moderate-narrative","voice_tone":"authoritative","sound_elements":["soft temple bells","distant conch shell","gentle crowd murmur","morning birds"]}
Sandhi Resolution Notes: नाधमः = न + अधमः; कश्चिदप्यास्ते = कश्चित् + अपि + आस्ते; तस्मिन्राजनि = तस्मिन् + राजनि; वापि = वा + अपि; अल्पायुर्वाथ = अल्पायुः + वा + अथ
FAQs
It presents a model of rule where the king’s governance results in social well-being—no degradation, poverty, illness, premature death, or pervasive sorrow among the people.
Purāṇas sometimes use unexpected examples to emphasize that dharmic outcomes (public welfare, justice, stability) can be recognized by their fruits, regardless of the ruler’s lineage or label.
A ruler (or any leader) is measured by the condition of those under their care—reducing suffering and ensuring dignity, health, and security is treated as a hallmark of righteous administration.