Vamana Purana — Prahlada vs Nara-Narayana, Shloka 59
Prahlada’s Defeat by Nara-Narayana and Victory through Bhakti
शतं नरस्त्रीणि शतानि दैत्यः षड् धर्मपुत्रो दश दैत्यराजः ततो ऽप्यसंख्येयतरान् हि बाणान् मुमोचतुस्तौ सुभृशं हि कोपात्
śataṃ narastrīṇi śatāni daityaḥ ṣaḍ dharmaputro daśa daityarājaḥ tato 'pyasaṃkhyeyatarān hi bāṇān mumocatustau subhṛśaṃ hi kopāt
Der Mensch (Nara) schoss hundertdrei Pfeile; der Daitya schoss Hunderte von Pfeilen. Der Sohn Dharmas schoss sechs; der Daitya-König schoss zehn. Dann, von heftigem Zorn ergriffen, ließen beide Pfeile fliegen, noch unzählbarer als zuvor.
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FAQs
Anger is explicitly named as the causal factor (kopāt). The moral logic is classical: once krodha dominates, actions become immeasurable (asaṃkhyeya), i.e., ungoverned by proportion, discernment, or dharma.
This is narrative (carita) material embedded in dynastic/heroic accounts (vamśānucarita in a loose purāṇic sense). It is not cosmogenesis but exemplary storytelling illustrating dharmic and adharmic tendencies.
The shift from countable volleys (100, 103, 6, 10) to ‘innumerable’ signifies the breakdown of order: measurable action belongs to controlled agency; immeasurable action marks passion overwhelming reason. Purāṇas often use this to foreshadow the necessity of a restoring principle (daiva/dharma).