Vamana Purana — Shukra's Curse on King Danda, Shloka 97

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

Devanagari script

शाखां वहति मत्सूनुः शिरसा तां विमोचय दशवर्षशतान्यस्य शाखां वै वहतो ऽगमन्

Transliteration

śākhāṃ vahati matsūnuḥ śirasā tāṃ vimocaya daśavarṣaśatānyasya śākhāṃ vai vahato 'gaman

Translation

„Mein Sohn trägt den Ast auf seinem Haupt — befreie ihn davon. Zehn Hundertschaften von Jahren sind vergangen, während er diesen Ast wahrhaft trug.“

Speakers

• The sage to the Vānarapati (and implicitly urging action by the king/others).

Key Themes

• Endurance and prolonged penance-like suffering
• Release (vimokṣa) as narrative goal
• Sacred-object burden motif

Verse Rasa (Emotional Flavour)

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

FAQs

Why emphasize ‘ten hundred years’ of carrying the branch?

Such hyperbolic time-spans are common in Purāṇic itihāsa to mark the event as belonging to a mythic age and to magnify the gravity of the bondage—thereby intensifying the eventual merit (puṇya) or sanctity associated with the place and its legend.

Is the son’s carrying of the branch a form of tapas (austerity)?

Functionally, yes: bearing a heavy object for an immense duration parallels tapas motifs (endurance, restraint, expiation). Even if not explicitly called tapas here, the narrative frames suffering and steadfastness as spiritually weighty.

What might the ‘branch on the head’ indicate in sacred geography terms?

In many tirtha-mahātmyas, a carried object becomes a moving marker that later ‘settles’ at a spot, generating a named locality, shrine, or ritual station. If subsequent verses describe where the branch (or its three parts) is placed, those placements typically map onto specific tirthas or landmarks.