Vamana Purana — Battle at Mandara, Shloka 27

The Battle at Mandara: Vinayaka, Nandin, and Skanda Rout the Daitya Hosts

Devanagari script

तं भ्रामयानो बलवान् निजघान रणे गणान् रुद्राद्याः स्कन्दपर्यन्तास्ते ऽभज्यन्त भयातुराः

Transliteration

taṃ bhrāmayāno balavān nijaghāna raṇe gaṇān rudrādyāḥ skandaparyantāste 'bhajyanta bhayāturāḥ

Translation

Indem er es wirbelnd schwang, erschlug der Mächtige im Kampf die Gaṇas; und jene Heerscharen, von Rudra bis hin zu Skanda, wurden zerschlagen und zerstreut, von Furcht gepeinigt.

Speakers

• Narrator continuing the combat account
• focusing on Huṇḍa’s counterattack against Śiva’s hosts.

Primary Deities

• Shiva (Rudra)
• Skanda (Kārttikeya)

Key Themes

• Turning point in battle
• Asura’s temporary ascendancy
• Gaṇa warfare (Śaiva martial retinue)

Verse Rasa (Emotional Flavour)

{ "primaryRasa": "raudra", "secondaryRasa": "bhayanaka", "rasaIntensity": 0, "emotionalArcPosition": "", "moodDescriptors": [] }

FAQs

Does “rudrādyāḥ skandaparyantāḥ” mean Rudra and Skanda themselves fled?

The phrasing is a range-marker (“from Rudra onward up to Skanda”), commonly used to denote the span of a group or hierarchy. It can indicate that forces associated with these leaders—gaṇas and commanders under their aegis—were routed, without requiring that the deities personally fled.

Why emphasize the weapon being ‘whirled’ (bhrāmayāna)?

It signals the parigha’s mode of use: rotational momentum amplifies impact, fitting the parigha’s identity as a crushing weapon and heightening the scene’s kinetic violence.

How does this verse function within the Andhaka-vadha cycle?

Such verses often insert a momentary reversal where an asura-champion disrupts divine troops, thereby magnifying the eventual divine victory and underscoring the scale of the conflict.