Vamana Purana — Skanda Slays Taraka & Mahisha, Shloka 3
Skanda’s Svastyayana and the Slaying of Taraka and Mahisha
कुमार उवाच नमो ऽस्तु भवतां देवा ॐ नमो ऽस्तु तपोधनाः युष्मत्प्रसादाज्जेष्यामि शत्रू महिषतारकौ
kumāra uvāca namo 'stu bhavatāṃ devā oṃ namo 'stu tapodhanāḥ yuṣmatprasādājjeṣyāmi śatrū mahiṣatārakau
Kumāra sprach: „Ehrerbietung euch, o Götter. Oṃ—Ehrerbietung euch, ihr, die ihr den Reichtum der Askese besitzt. Durch eure Gnade werde ich die Feinde, Mahiṣa und Tāraka, besiegen.“
{ "primaryRasa": "vira", "secondaryRasa": "bhakti", "rasaIntensity": 0, "emotionalArcPosition": "", "moodDescriptors": [] }
FAQs
The epithet frames the Devas’ authority as grounded in tapas (spiritual heat/merit), not merely in power. In Purāṇic idiom, victory over asuras is secured by accumulated merit and divine sanction; Kumāra explicitly seeks that sanction.
Yes. The verse names both as ‘enemies’ to be conquered, presenting Kumāra’s mission as multi-front demon-subjugation. Purāṇas often cluster asura adversaries to emphasize the scale of cosmic disorder being corrected.
It marks the utterance as a formal act of reverence and auspicious invocation, aligning Kumāra’s speech with Vedic-style prayer language and signaling that the forthcoming battle is framed as dharmic, not merely martial.