Vamana Purana — Skanda Slays Taraka & Mahisha, Shloka 58
Skanda’s Svastyayana and the Slaying of Taraka and Mahisha
भीमो भीमशिलावर्षै स पुरस्सरतो ऽसुरान् निजघान यथैवेन्द्रो वज्रवृष्ट्या नगोत्तमान्
bhīmo bhīmaśilāvarṣai sa purassarato 'surān nijaghāna yathaivendro vajravṛṣṭyā nagottamān
Bhīma, hurling a terrifying shower of rocks, struck down the Asuras who stood in the forefront—just as Indra, by a rain of thunderbolts, shatters the loftiest mountains.
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FAQs
In the Andhaka-vadha context of the Vāmana Purāṇa, ‘Bhīma’ is best read as a fierce gaṇa (Śiva’s attendant-warrior) rather than the Mahābhārata’s Pāṇḍava. The verse’s diction focuses on gaṇa-style battlefield feats and follows other gaṇa names in adjacent verses.
The simile elevates the gaṇa’s violence to a cosmic scale: Indra’s vajra symbolizes irresistible divine force that subdues chaos. By likening stones to vajras and enemies to mountains, the text frames the battle as restoration of order rather than mere violence.
No. This is a pure yuddha-varṇana unit; the Vāmana Purāṇa often alternates between geography/tīrtha material and mythic cycles, and this verse belongs to the mythic-battle register without place-names.