Varaha Purana 28.5: Adhyaya 28, Shloka 5
The Manifestation of Māyā as Durgā/Kātyāyanī and the Slaying of Vaitrāsura
महातपा उवाच । सोऽन्यजन्मनि पुत्रोऽभूत् त्वष्टुर्बलभृतां वरः । अवध्यः सर्वशस्त्रेषु अपां फेनॆन नाशितः ॥ २८.५ ॥
mahātapā uvāca | so 'nyajanmani putro 'bhūt tvaṣṭur balabhṛtāṁ varaḥ | avadhyaḥ sarvaśastreṣu apāṁ phenena nāśitaḥ || 28.5 ||
Mahātapā sprach: „In einem anderen Leben wurde er der Sohn Tvaṣṭṛs, der Vornehmste unter den Starken. Obwohl gegen alle Waffen unverwundbar, wurde er durch den Schaum der Wasser vernichtet.“
Mahātapā
FAQs
It preserves a recurring Purāṇic narrative motif: a figure described as invulnerable to conventional weapons is nonetheless overcome through an exceptional substance, illustrating how mythic historiography encodes ideas of limits, contingency, and narrative causality.
No explicit geographic location appears in this verse; it is primarily genealogical and thematic (linking the figure to Tvaṣṭṛ and describing the means of destruction).
Rather than a direct moral injunction, the verse conveys a philosophical theme: claims of absolute invulnerability are qualified by exceptional conditions, emphasizing the limits of power and the inevitability of vulnerability under specific causes.
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