Shloka 31

नरकासुरवधः, अदीतिकुण्डल-प्रत्यर्पणम्, तथा भारावतरण-लीला

Devanagari script

कन्यापुरे स कन्यानां षोडशातुलविक्रमः शताधिकानि ददृशे सहस्राणि महामुने

Transliteration

kanyāpure sa kanyānāṃ ṣoḍaśātulavikramaḥ śatādhikāni dadṛśe sahasrāṇi mahāmune

Translation

O great sage, in Kanyāpura he—whose valor was unrivaled even at the age of sixteen—beheld more than a hundred thousand maidens.

Word by Word

• कन्यापुरे: in Kanyāpura
• कन्यापुरे: Adhikarana (अधिकरण/Location)
• Type: Noun
• Root: कन्या-पुर (प्रातिपदिक; समास)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, सप्तमी (7th/Locative), एकवचन (Locative singular)

• सः: he
• सः: Karta (कर्ता/Subject)
• Type: Noun
• Root: तद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st/Nominative), एकवचन (Masculine nominative singular)

• कन्यानाम्: of maidens
• कन्यानाम्: Sambandha (सम्बन्ध/Genitive)
• Type: Noun
• Root: कन्या (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, षष्ठी (6th/Genitive), बहुवचन (Feminine genitive plural)

• षोडशातुलविक्रमः: (he) of incomparable prowess
• षोडशातुलविक्रमः: Karta (कर्ता/Subject-apposition)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: षोडश-अतुल-विक्रम (प्रातिपदिक; समास)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st/Nominative), एकवचन; विशेषण (Masculine nominative singular adjective; 'of incomparable prowess')

• शताधिकानि: more than a hundred
• शताधिकानि: Karma (कर्म/Object-qualifier)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: शत-अधिक (प्रातिपदिक; समास)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, द्वितीया (2nd/Accusative), बहुवचन; विशेषण (Neuter accusative plural adjective)

• ददृशे: saw
• ददृशे: Kriya (क्रिया/Predicate)
• Type: Verb
• Root: √दृश् (धातु)
• Form: लिट्-लकार (Perfect), आत्मनेपद, प्रथमपुरुष, एकवचन (3rd person singular)

• सहस्राणि: thousands
• सहस्राणि: Karma (कर्म/Object)
• Type: Noun
• Root: सहस्र (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, द्वितीया (2nd/Accusative), बहुवचन (Neuter accusative plural)

• महामुने: O great sage
• महामुने: Sambodhana (सम्बोधन/Address)
• Type: Noun
• Root: महामुनि (प्रातिपदिक; समास)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, सम्बोधन (Vocative), एकवचन (Vocative singular)

Speaker

Sage Parāśara (narrating to Maitreya)

Parashara-Maitreya Dialogue

Speaker: Parasara

Topic: Description of Krishna’s arrival at Kanyāpura and his sight of the vast number of captive maidens.

Teaching: Historical

Quality: authoritative

Avatara Context

Avatara: Krishna

Purpose: To liberate the captive maidens held by Naraka and restore their dignity and rightful social protection after his defeat.

Leela: Loka-rakshana

Dharma Restored: Protection of women, restoration of honor and freedom, and re-establishment of righteous kingship.

Philosophical Teaching

Concept: The Lord’s protection manifests as the rescue of the vulnerable from coercion, showing dharma as safeguarding dignity and freedom.

Vedantic Theme: Dharma

Application: Support and protect vulnerable persons; oppose exploitation; translate compassion into concrete rescue and rehabilitation efforts.

Vishishtadvaita: Portrays God’s saulabhya (easy accessibility) in history—personally intervening for embodied beings whose welfare is real and significant, not illusory.

Vaishnava Theology

Vishnu Form: Krishna

Bhakti Type: Madhurya

Characters & Entities

• Maitreya
• Sage Parāśara
• Kanyāpura
• a sixteen-year-old heroic prince/king
• maidens (kanyāḥ)

FAQs

What is the significance of Kanyāpura and the many maidens mentioned here in the Vishnu Purana?

It signals a dynastic turning-point: the narrative frames a royal encounter that typically precedes marriage alliances, through which genealogies expand and succession is secured.

How does Sage Parāśara present royal power and eligibility in this verse?

He highlights the prince’s “atula-vikrama” (incomparable valor) even at sixteen, using heroic qualification as a narrative basis for social legitimacy and dynastic continuity.

What is the theological importance of Lord Vishnu in this context of dynastic storytelling?

Even when Vishnu is not named in the verse, Ansha 4 treats kingship and lineage as operating within Vishnu’s cosmic sovereignty—dharma, succession, and social order unfold as part of the divinely sustained world.