Vamana Purana — Skanda Slays Taraka & Mahisha, Shloka 63
Skanda’s Svastyayana and the Slaying of Taraka and Mahisha
पिण्डारकस्तु तुण्डेन शृङ्गाभ्यां च कलिप्रिय विदारयति संग्रामे दानवान् समरोद्धतान्
piṇḍārakastu tuṇḍena śṛṅgābhyāṃ ca kalipriya vidārayati saṃgrāme dānavān samaroddhatān
হে কলিপ্রিয়! পিণ্ডারক যুদ্ধক্ষেত্রে যুদ্ধগর্বিত দানবদের ঠোঁট ও দুই শৃঙ্গ দিয়ে বিদীর্ণ করল।
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FAQs
‘Kali-priya’ functions as a vocative epithet for the addressee, a stylistic device common in Purāṇic narration. It can signal a frame where the teaching is relevant for the Kali age, or it may be an affectionate/identifying epithet of the interlocutor in the surrounding dialogue.
The verse does not specify a deity-form; it portrays a combatant with animal-like features, consistent with Purāṇic battle scenes where yakṣas, bhūtas, gaṇas, and various extraordinary beings fight using non-human anatomies.
It frames the opponents as inflated with martial pride and aggression, a moral-psychological characterization that justifies their violent downfall and heightens the hero’s prowess in overcoming formidable, overconfident enemies.