Shloka 31

Matsya Purana — Maya’s War-Counsel to the Danavas and the Moonlit Revels in Tripura

Devanagari script

क्षताधरोष्ठा द्रुतदोषरक्ता ललन्ति दैत्या दयितासु रक्ताः तन्त्रीप्रलापास्त्रिपुरेषु रक्ताः स्त्रीणां प्रलापेषु पुनर्विरक्ताः //

Transliteration

kṣatādharoṣṭhā drutadoṣaraktā lalanti daityā dayitāsu raktāḥ tantrīpralāpāstripureṣu raktāḥ strīṇāṃ pralāpeṣu punarviraktāḥ //

Translation

With lips bruised and wounded, inflamed by swiftly rising faults and passions, the Daityas sport—attached to their beloved women. Enamored of the twang and chatter of stringed instruments and of the pleasures of the cities, they grow attached there; yet, when it comes to the lamentations of women, they again become indifferent.

Word by Word

• क्षत (kṣata): wounded, bruised

• अधर-ओष्ठा (adharoṣṭhā): lower lips

• द्रुत (druta): swift, quickly arising

• दोष (doṣa): fault, vice, moral defect

• रक्ता (raktā): reddened, inflamed, passionately attached

• ललन्ति (lalanti): they play/sport, revel

• दैत्या (daityāḥ): the Daityas (demons, sons of Diti)

• दयितासु (dayitāsu): among/with beloved women

• तन्त्री (tantrī): stringed instrument, lute/lyre

• प्रलापा (pralāpāḥ): chatter, prattle, amorous talk (also: incoherent speech)

• त्रिपुरेषु (tripureṣu): in the three cities / in cities (Tripura as a poetic epithet for urban pleasures)

• स्त्रीणाम् (strīṇām): of women

• प्रलापेषु (pralāpeṣu): in lamentations/wailings (or: talk)

• पुनः (punaḥ): again

• विरक्ताः (viraktāḥ): detached, indifferent, dispassionate

Speaker

• Suta (narratorial voice within the Purana, describing a moral-psychological type rather than a ritual instruction)

Entities Mentioned

• Daityas

Tags

• Adharma
• Asuric nature
• Rajas-Tamas
• Ethics
• Social critique

FAQs

What does this verse reveal about the creation or dissolution (Pralaya)?

This verse does not discuss cosmic creation or Pralaya; it is an ethical portrait of demoniac, passion-driven conduct—showing how attachment and vice govern perception and relationships.

How does this verse relate to the duties of a King or Householder?

It functions as a warning: a householder or ruler should restrain doṣas (vices) like uncontrolled lust and callousness, cultivating steadiness and compassion rather than fickle attachment and indifference to suffering.

What is the architectural or ritual significance mentioned here?

No Vastu Shastra or ritual procedure is taught in this verse; “tripureṣu” is best read as a poetic reference to city-pleasures (or Tripura imagery), used to critique indulgence rather than prescribe architecture.