Vamana Purana — Prahlada vs Nara-Narayana, Shloka 56
Prahlada’s Defeat by Nara-Narayana and Victory through Bhakti
एकं नरो द्वौ दितिजेश्वरश्च त्रीन् धर्मसूनुश्चतुरो दितीशः नरस्तु बाणान् प्रमुमोच पञ्च षड् द्रत्यनाथो निशितान् पृषत्कान्
ekaṃ naro dvau ditijeśvaraśca trīn dharmasūnuścaturo ditīśaḥ narastu bāṇān pramumoca pañca ṣaḍ dratyanātho niśitān pṛṣatkān
أطلق نارا سهمًا واحدًا؛ وأطلق سيدُ المولودين من دِتي سهمين؛ وأطلق ابنُ دارما ثلاثة؛ وأطلق سيدُ دِتي أربعة. ثم رمى نارا خمسة سهام، وأطلق قائدُ الدايتيّات ستة سهامٍ حادّة.
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FAQs
The measured escalation (1 through 6) depicts controlled power rather than chaos: strength is expressed in proportion and skill. Purāṇic battle scenes often teach that victory is tied to discipline and persistence, not merely rage.
It is part of Vaṃśānucarita/Carita-style narrative description—an action segment supporting the larger mythic history rather than cosmological creation or dissolution.
The arithmetic rise in arrows functions as a literary device indicating intensification of conflict and the tightening of karmic consequence—each act invites a proportional counter-act, mirroring the Purāṇic sense of action and reaction (karma-phala) even within warfare.