Shloka 17
Multi-form Manifestations, Indra–Kāma Incarnations, Pravāha, and the Twofold Buddhi
Sense-Discipline and Exclusive Refuge in Viṣṇu
चतुर्दशसु चेन्द्रेषु सप्तमो यः पुरन्दरः / वृत्रादीनां शरीरं तु पुरमित्युच्यते बुधैः
caturdaśasu cendreṣu saptamo yaḥ purandaraḥ / vṛtrādīnāṃ śarīraṃ tu puramityucyate budhaiḥ
Unter den vierzehn Indras ist der siebte derjenige, der Purandara genannt wird. Der Leib Vṛtras und der anderen, so sagen die Weisen, heißt „pura“, eine Stadt oder Festung.
Lord Vishnu (narrating to Garuda/Vinata-putra in the Garuda Purana dialogue frame)
Concept: Cosmic offices recur across cycles; names encode functions; ‘pura’ as body/fortress is an interpretive etymology linking myth to meaning.
Vedantic Theme: Nāma–rūpa and functional designation (upādhi) in cosmic governance; knowledge as classification of roles rather than ultimate reality.
Application: Read puranic names as functional descriptors; understand leadership as duty-bound office within time-cycles, not absolute identity.
Primary Rasa: adbhuta
Secondary Rasa: vira
Type: celestial city/realm
Related Themes: Garuda Purana cosmological lists of manvantaras and Indras in adjacent adhyāyas; References to Vṛtra/Indra appear in puranic myth sections explaining divine epithets
FAQs
This verse identifies Purandara as the seventh among the fourteen Indras, highlighting a Purāṇic cosmological ordering and Indra’s well-known epithet.
It states that the ‘pura’ can denote a body—like that of Vṛtra and others—implying the body is a fortified ‘city’ inhabited/animated by an inner principle.
Treat the body as a temporary ‘city’ to be maintained with discipline and ethics, without mistaking it for the enduring self.