Vamana Purana — Andhaka's Coronation, Shloka 36
Andhaka’s Coronation, Boons from Shiva, and the Daiva–Asura War (Vahana Catalogues)
शोणितोदा रथावर्त्ता योधसंघट्टवाहिनी गजकुम्भमाहकूर्मा शरमीना दुरत्यया
śoṇitodā rathāvarttā yodhasaṃghaṭṭavāhinī gajakumbhamāhakūrmā śaramīnā duratyayā
ماؤه دمٌ؛ ودوّاماته عرباتٌ؛ وجريانه صدمةُ جموعِ المقاتلين. وكانت صدورُ صُدغِ الفيلة كالسلاحف العظام، وكانت السهامُ أسماكه—نهرًا عسيرَ العبور.
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FAQs
By aestheticizing violence into a ‘river,’ the text simultaneously conveys grandeur and horror; it cautions that warfare creates a self-sustaining current of harm that becomes ‘uncrossable’ once unleashed.
It is episodic narrative material aligned with Vamśānucarita/Manvantara-associated Deva–Asura struggles (a common Purāṇic narrative layer), not cosmological sarga/pratisarga.
The ‘river of blood’ is a dharmic inversion of sacred rivers: instead of purifying, it embodies adharma’s consequences; martial objects become aquatic life, suggesting violence naturalized into an ecosystem.