Vamana Purana — Shukra's Curse on King Danda, Shloka 46

Shukra’s Curse on King Danda and Andhaka’s Challenge to Shiva

Devanagari script

ततः प्लवङ्गमो वक्षं प्राक्षिपत् सागराम्भसि सह तेनैव वृक्षेण पतितास्म्यहमाकुला

Transliteration

tataḥ plavaṅgamo vakṣaṃ prākṣipat sāgarāmbhasi saha tenaiva vṛkṣeṇa patitāsmyahamākulā

Translation

Dann schleuderte der Affe den Baumstamm in die Wasser des Ozeans; und mit eben diesem Stamm stürzte ich hinab, bekümmert und verwirrt.

Speakers

• Same first-person narrator; this verse appears to restate 39.45 with a variant term (vakṣa = trunk/log)
• suggesting either emphasis or a manuscript/recensional repetition.

Key Themes

• Repetition/variant reading in transmission
• Ocean as narrative boundary
• Crisis leading to subsequent sacred outcome (implied)

Verse Rasa (Emotional Flavour)

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

FAQs

Why does 39.46 seem to repeat 39.45?

Purāṇic manuscripts often preserve parallel lines or recensional variants. Here, ‘vṛkṣa’ (tree) in 39.45 is echoed with ‘vakṣa’ (trunk/log) in 39.46, which may reflect a different exemplar, a clarifying restatement, or a scribal duplication retained in some editions.

Does ‘vakṣa’ change the meaning materially?

Slightly: it narrows the object from the whole tree to a trunk/log, which can make the action more physically plausible (a broken portion being thrown). The narrative outcome—falling into the ocean with it—remains the same.

What geographical data should be indexed from this verse?

At minimum: Sāgara (ocean). Even when not a specific named sea, ‘sāgara’ is a key cosmographic and pilgrimage boundary marker in Purāṇic geography and should be indexed as a sacred-geography entity.