Shloka 135
Matsya Purana — The Slaying of Jambha and the Rise of Tāraka: Divine Battle Formations
कबन्धनृत्यसंकुले स्रवद्वसास्रकर्दमे जगत्त्रयोपसंहृतौ समे समस्तदेहिनाम् शृगालगृध्रवायसाः परं प्रमोदमादधुः क्वचिद्विकृष्टलोचनः शवस्य रौति वायसः //
kabandhanṛtyasaṃkule sravadvasāsrakardame jagattrayopasaṃhṛtau same samastadehinām śṛgālagṛdhravāyasāḥ paraṃ pramodamādadhuḥ kvacidvikṛṣṭalocanaḥ śavasya rauti vāyasaḥ //
When the whole threefold world was being drawn into dissolution, the ground—common to all embodied beings—became a mire of oozing fat and blood, crowded with the ghastly ‘dance’ of headless trunks. Jackals, vultures, and crows took supreme delight; and somewhere a crow, its eyes dragged wide, cries out over a corpse.
FAQs
It depicts Pralaya as a total breakdown of life-order: the three worlds are withdrawn, the earth becomes a bloody mire, and scavengers rejoice—showing dissolution as both physical devastation and moral/ritual collapse.
By portraying a world where death and disorder dominate, it implicitly underscores why kings and householders must uphold dharma, protection, and purity—because when order fails, society descends into भय (terror) and अशौच (defilement).
No Vastu rule is stated directly; ritually, the imagery stresses अशौच and the pollution associated with शव (corpse), blood, and carrion—conditions that would halt yajña and temple rites, highlighting the fragility of sacred order during Pralaya.