Vamana Purana — Ritadhvaja Aids Galava, Shloka 13
Ritadhvaja’s Aid to Galava and Andhaka’s Infatuation with Gauri
तां नन्दने देवरिपुस्तरस्वी संक्रीडतीं रूपवतीं ददर्श पातालकेतुस्तु जहार तन्वीं तस्यार्थतः सो ऽश्ववरः प्रदत्तः
tāṃ nandane devaripustarasvī saṃkrīḍatīṃ rūpavatīṃ dadarśa pātālaketustu jahāra tanvīṃ tasyārthataḥ so 'śvavaraḥ pradattaḥ
নন্দন উদ্যানে দেবশত্রু সেই দ্রুতগামী (অসুর) ক্রীড়ারত রূপসী, সুকুমারীকে দেখল। কিন্তু পাতালকেতু সেই ক্ষীণাঙ্গিনীকে হরণ করে নিল; আর সেই উদ্দেশ্যেই তাকে সেই শ্রেষ্ঠ অশ্ব প্রদান করা হয়েছিল।
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FAQs
The phrase devaripu is a stock epithet for an asura/daitya antagonist; here it points to the abducting party (or his faction). The “excellent horse” (aśvavara) is presented as a purposeful boon or provision—an enabling instrument for the abduction—highlighting asura reliance on speed, stealth, and granted powers rather than open battle.
Nandana is not merely a garden; it is a marker of Indra’s sovereign space in Svarga. An abduction occurring there signals a breach of divine order and prestige, escalating the offense from personal wrongdoing to a cosmic-political affront against the devas.
Yes. Purāṇic names often encode affiliation: “Pātāla-ketu” suggests a netherworld (Pātāla) association—either origin, allegiance, or symbolic ‘banner’ of the subterranean asura realm—linking the episode to the vertical cosmography (Svarga vs. Pātāla).