Vamana Purana — Prahlada vs Nara-Narayana, Shloka 4

Prahlada’s Defeat by Nara-Narayana and Victory through Bhakti

Devanagari script

ततो विहस्य भगवान् मञ्जरीं कुसुमावृताम् आदाय प्राक्सुवर्णाङ्गीमूर्वोर्बालां विनिर्ममे

Transliteration

tato vihasya bhagavān mañjarīṃ kusumāvṛtām ādāya prāksuvarṇāṅgīmūrvorbālāṃ vinirmame

Translation

Then the Blessed Lord, smiling, took a flower-cluster covered with blossoms and fashioned from his thighs a young maiden whose body shone with a golden hue.

Word by Word

• ततः: then
• ततः: Kāla-adhikaraṇa (कालाधिकरण)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: ततः (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय; तदनन्तरम्

• विहस्य: having laughed/smiled
• विहस्य: Pūrvakāla-kriyā (पूर्वकालक्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: हस् (धातु) + वि (उपसर्ग) → विहस्य (कृदन्त)
• Form: क्त्वान्त अव्यय (gerund)

• भगवान्: the Lord
• भगवान्: Karta (कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: भगवत् (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग; प्रथमा, एकवचन

• मञ्जरीम्: a blossom-cluster/spray
• मञ्जरीम्: Karma (कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: मञ्जरी (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग; द्वितीया, एकवचन

• कुसुमावृताम्: covered with flowers
• कुसुमावृताम्: Viśeṣaṇa (विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: कुसुम + आवृत (कृदन्त/प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग; द्वितीया, एकवचन; समासः तत्पुरुषः (कुसुमैः आवृता)

• आदाय: having taken
• आदाय: Pūrvakāla-kriyā (पूर्वकालक्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: आ + दा (धातु) → आदाय (कृदन्त)
• Form: क्त्वान्त अव्यय (gerund)

• प्राक्: formerly/in front
• प्राक्: Kriyāviśeṣaṇa/Deśa (क्रियाविशेषण/देश)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: प्राक् (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय; पूर्वकाल/पूर्वदिशावाचक (formerly/in front)

• सुवर्णाङ्गीम्: golden-limbed (woman)
• सुवर्णाङ्गीम्: Viśeṣaṇa (विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: सुवर्ण + अङ्गी (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग; द्वितीया, एकवचन; समासः कर्मधारयः (सुवर्णम् अङ्गं यस्याः/सुवर्णाङ्गी)

• ऊर्वोः: from (his) two thighs
• ऊर्वोः: Apādāna/Source (अपादान)
• Type: Noun
• Root: ऊरु (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग; षष्ठी विभक्ति, द्विवचन (genitive dual)

• बालाम्: a young girl/maiden
• बालाम्: Karma (कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: बाला (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग; द्वितीया, एकवचन

• विनिर्ममे: created/formed
• विनिर्ममे: Kriyā (क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: वि + निर् + मा (धातु)
• Form: लिट् (Perfect); प्रथमपुरुष, एकवचन; आत्मनेपदम्

Speakers

• Not specified in the provided excerpt (likely within the Purāṇic frame dialogue
• often Pulastya → Nārada)

Primary Deities

• Bhagavān (contextual creator figure)
• Kandarpa (introduced next verse)

Key Themes

• Mythic origin
• Aesthetic description (rūpa-varṇana)
• Creation through divine agency

Verse Rasa (Emotional Flavour)

{ "primaryRasa": "shringara", "secondaryRasa": "adbhuta", "rasaIntensity": 0, "emotionalArcPosition": "", "moodDescriptors": [] }

FAQs

What is the philosophical or ethical takeaway?

The passage frames beauty and desire as arising within cosmic order, not merely as human impulse; the ‘smiling’ creative act suggests that even kāma (desire) has a sanctioned place when integrated with dharma rather than opposed to it.

How does this fit the Pancalakshana?

This aligns most closely with Vaṃśānucarita / mythic account of divine beings (ancillary genealogy/origin of a deity-associated figure), rather than sarga/pratisarga proper; it is a narrative etiological unit explaining a figure’s emergence.

What is the symbolic significance?

The maiden’s ‘golden-bodied’ form and emergence from the thighs (ūrū) symbolically link desire/attraction to vitality, generation, and embodied power; the flower-cluster imagery encodes śṛṅgāra as a natural, fragrant force that can be shaped by divine will.