Shloka 15

Matsya Purana — The Burning of Tripura and Rudra’s Victory

Devanagari script

गिरिशृङ्गोपलानां च प्रेरितानां प्रमन्युभिः सजवानां दानवानां सधूमानां रवित्विषाम् आयुधानां महानोघः सागरौघे पतत्यपि //

Transliteration

giriśṛṅgopalānāṃ ca preritānāṃ pramanyubhiḥ sajavānāṃ dānavānāṃ sadhūmānāṃ ravitviṣām āyudhānāṃ mahānoghaḥ sāgaraughe patatyapi //

Translation

And from those swift Dānavas, driven on by fierce wrath, there fell a mighty torrent of weapons—mountain-peaks and boulders hurled forth, smoke-wreathed and blazing with the sun’s brilliance—plunging even into the surging mass of the ocean.

Word by Word

• giri-śṛṅga: mountain-peaks

• upalānām: of stones/boulders

• ca: and

• preritānām: of those that were hurled/impelled

• pramanyubhiḥ: by (those) of intense anger

• sa-javānām: of the swift/impetuous

• dānavānām: of the Danavas (demonic clan)

• sa-dhūmānām: smoke-bearing/smoke-wreathed

• ravi-tviṣām: having the radiance of the sun

• āyudhānām: of weapons

• mahā-noghaḥ: a great flood/torrent

• sāgara-oghe: into the ocean’s surge/mass of waters

• patati api: falls even/indeed falls.

Speaker

• Sūta (narrative voice describing events in the Purāṇic account)

Entities Mentioned

• Dānavas
• Sāgara (Ocean)

Tags

• Deva-Asura War
• Cosmic Battle
• Pralaya Imagery
• Weapons
• Ocean

FAQs

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

It uses Pralaya-like imagery—an overwhelming flood (ogha) and oceanic surges—to portray cosmic-scale destruction, even though the immediate context is a war scene rather than a formal dissolution chapter.

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

Indirectly, it functions as a warning about uncontrolled wrath (pramanyu) and violence: Purāṇic ethics often contrast such demonic fury with the king’s duty to restrain anger, protect subjects, and wield force only under dharma.

What is the architectural or ritual significance mentioned here?

None explicitly; the verse is martial and cosmological in tone. Its main takeaway is symbolic—“mountains and boulders” as weapons—rather than a Vastu Shastra or ritual prescription.