Narada Purana — Purva Bhaga, Shloka 7
The Description of the Four Durgā Mantras
भानुमण्डलसंस्थानां प्रविकीर्णालकं शिरः । छिन्नं स्वकं स्फारमुखं स्वरक्तं प्रपिबद्गलत् ॥ ७ ॥
bhānumaṇḍalasaṃsthānāṃ pravikīrṇālakaṃ śiraḥ | chinnaṃ svakaṃ sphāramukhaṃ svaraktaṃ prapibadgalat || 7 ||
Una cabeza, con la forma del orbe del Sol, con el cabello esparcido, cortada de su propio cuerpo, con la boca abierta, bebía su propia sangre mientras fluía.
Narada (narration within a technical/illustrative passage; dialogue frame traditionally with Sanatkumara)
Vrata: none
Primary Rasa: bhayanaka
Secondary Rasa: bibhatsa
FAQs
The verse uses a stark, fearful image—self-consuming violence—to illustrate the destructive momentum of adharma and the karmic consequences that can overwhelm a being when restraint and right conduct collapse.
By portraying the horror of self-harm driven by uncontrolled forces, it implicitly points to bhakti and dharma as stabilizing refuges—turning the mind toward Vishnu-centered discipline rather than toward impulses that “consume one’s own life-blood.”
In the Third Pada’s technical tone, such imagery aligns with Jyotiṣa-style omen language: vivid forms (sun-disc likeness, dishevelled hair, blood-drinking) function as diagnostic symbols to warn of inauspicious conditions and the need for corrective dharmic action.