Vamana Purana — Prahlada vs Nara-Narayana, Shloka 10

Prahlada’s Defeat by Nara-Narayana and Victory through Bhakti

Devanagari script

जघनं त्वतिविस्तीर्ण भात्यस्या रशनावृतम् श्रीरोदमथने नद्धूं भूजङ्गेनेव मन्दरम्

Transliteration

jaghanaṃ tvativistīrṇa bhātyasyā raśanāvṛtam śrīrodamathane naddhūṃ bhūjaṅgeneva mandaram

Translation

Ihre Hüften sind überaus weit und leuchten, von einem Gürtel umschlossen—wie der Berg Mandara, den die Schlange beim Quirlen des Milchozeans umband.

Word by Word

• जघनम्: hips, loins
• जघनम्: Karma (कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: जघन (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा/द्वितीया (1st/2nd case), एकवचन; here as object/subject-compl. depending on construction

• तु: but/indeed
• तु: Sambandha (सम्बन्ध/वाक्यसम्बन्ध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: तु (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय; particle (निपात) expressing contrast/emphasis

• अतिविस्तीर्णम्: very broad, exceedingly wide
• अतिविस्तीर्णम्: Visheshana (विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: अति + विस्तीर्ण (कृदन्त; √स्तॄ/स्तृ 'to spread' + क्त)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा/द्वितीया, एकवचन; क्त-प्रत्ययान्त past participle used adjectivally; अव्ययीभाव (अति+विस्तीर्ण)

• भाति: shines/appears
• भाति: Kriya (क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: √भा (धातु)
• Form: लट् (Present), परस्मैपद, प्रथमपुरुष, एकवचन

• अस्याः: of her
• अस्याः: Shashthi-sambandha (षष्ठीसम्बन्ध)
• Type: Noun
• Root: इदम् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, षष्ठी (6th case, Genitive), एकवचन

• रशनावृतम्: covered by a girdle/belt
• रशनावृतम्: Visheshana (विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: रशना + आवृत (कृदन्त; √वृ 'to cover' + क्त)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा/द्वितीया, एकवचन; तृतीया-तत्पुरुष sense: रशनया आवृतम् = covered by a girdle

• श्रीरोदमथने: in the churning of the Ocean (of Śrī/fortune)
• श्रीरोदमथने: Adhikarana (अधिकरण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: श्रीरोद + मथन (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, सप्तमी (7th case, Locative), एकवचन; षष्ठी-तत्पुरुष: श्रीरोदस्य मथनम् (the churning of the ocean of Śrī/fortune)

• नद्धूम्: bound, tied
• नद्धूम्: Karma (कर्म)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: नद्ध (कृदन्त; √नह् 'to bind' + क्त)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, द्वितीया (2nd case, Accusative), एकवचन; used as predicate adjective to implied feminine (e.g., रशना)

• भुजङ्गेन: by a serpent
• भुजङ्गेन: Karana (करण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: भुजङ्ग (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, तृतीया (3rd case, Instrumental), एकवचन

• इव: like/as
• इव: Upamana-marker (उपमान-सूचक)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: इव (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय; उपमानवाचक particle (simile marker)

• मन्दरम्: Mount Mandara
• मन्दरम्: Upameya (उपमेय)
• Type: Noun
• Root: मन्दर (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, द्वितीया (2nd case, Accusative), एकवचन

Speakers

• Not stated in the provided excerpt (commonly framed in Vāmana Purāṇa as Pulastya ↔ Nārada
• but unspecified here)

Primary Deities

• Śrī/Lakṣmī
• Viṣṇu (implied via Lakṣmī and the Kṣīroda-manthana mythic frame)

Key Themes

• Vaishnavism
• Devī iconography
• Mythic allusion (Samudra-manthana)
• Poetic aesthetics (upamā/simile)

Verse Rasa (Emotional Flavour)

{ "primaryRasa": "shringara", "secondaryRasa": "adbhuta", "rasaIntensity": 0, "emotionalArcPosition": "", "moodDescriptors": [] }

FAQs

What is the philosophical or ethical takeaway?

Prosperity (Śrī) is portrayed as luminous and orderly (girdled/contained), suggesting that fortune becomes auspicious when harmonized with restraint and cosmic order rather than being unbounded.

How does this fit the Pancalakshana?

This is not sarga/pratisarga/vaṃśa material; it functions as stuti/varṇana embedded within narrative. If forced into a pañcalakṣaṇa bucket, it is ancillary to ākhyāna (narrative embellishment) rather than a core cosmological genealogy unit.

What is the symbolic significance?

The Mandara–Vāsuki simile links the Goddess’s beauty to the cosmic churning that yields amṛta and Śrī herself—beauty and abundance are signs of the same primordial, world-sustaining process.