Shloka 16
Matsya Purana — Uma’s Austerities and the Slaying of the Deceiver Asura ĀḌi
किमाडे दानवश्रेष्ठ तपसा प्राप्तुमिच्छसि ब्रह्माणमाह दैत्यस्तु निर्मृत्युत्वमहं वृणे //
kimāḍe dānavaśreṣṭha tapasā prāptumicchasi brahmāṇamāha daityastu nirmṛtyutvamahaṃ vṛṇe //
Brahmā said, “O Āḍi, best of the Dānavas, what do you wish to obtain by your austerities?” The Daitya replied, “I choose freedom from death—immortality.”
FAQs
It does not describe Pralaya directly; it shows the Puranic mechanism of tapas leading to boons, which often becomes a cause for later cosmic imbalance that gods must correct.
It implicitly warns that power gained through austerity or merit should be guided by dharma; craving “deathlessness” reflects unchecked desire, a theme used in the Purāṇas to instruct rulers and householders to seek righteous aims rather than invulnerability.
No Vāstu or temple-architecture rule appears in this verse; the ritual idea present is tapas (austerity) as a means to obtain a vara (boon) from a deity.