Shloka 5
Kaṃsa’s Council of Asuras and the Strategy Against the ‘Powerful Child’
किम् आदित्यैः सवसुभिर् अल्पवीर्यैः किम् अग्निभिः किं वान्यैर् अमरैः सर्वैर् मद्बाहुबलनिर्जितैः
kim ādityaiḥ savasubhir alpavīryaiḥ kim agnibhiḥ kiṃ vānyair amaraiḥ sarvair madbāhubalanirjitaiḥ
“What need have I of the Ādityas and the Vasus, so scant in might? What need of Agni? And what need of any other immortals, when all have already been subdued by the strength of my own arms?”
A proud king/warrior-figure within the dynastic narrative (spoken in a boastful challenge; framed by Parāśara’s narration to Maitreya)
Speaker: Parasara
Teaching: Historical
Quality: revealing
Concept: Power that subdues others becomes spiritually corrosive when it breeds contempt for divine order and responsibility.
Vedantic Theme: Dharma
Application: Use authority to protect and serve; measure success by dharma-alignment rather than by conquest or intimidation.
Vishishtadvaita: Devas are powerful yet finite; when their functions are obstructed, the Lord alone can reestablish the cosmic order through avatāra.
FAQs
They represent major classes of Vedic deities and cosmic functions; the verse heightens the speaker’s boast by claiming superiority even over these renowned divine powers.
In the Purana’s storytelling mode, such boasts typically signal royal hubris and set up a corrective turn where cosmic order reasserts itself under higher divine law.
Even when gods appear overpowered in a story, Vaishnava theology maintains that devas function within Vishnu’s supreme sovereignty; worldly might cannot ultimately overturn the universal order sustained by the Supreme Reality.