Vamana Purana — Andhaka's Coronation, Shloka 43
Andhaka’s Coronation, Boons from Shiva, and the Daiva–Asura War (Vahana Catalogues)
मुञ्चन्ति फेत्काररवाञ्शिवाश्च क्रन्दन्ति योधा भुवि वेदनार्त्ताः शस्त्रप्रतप्ता निपतन्ति चान्ये युद्धं श्मशानप्रतिमं बभूव
muñcanti phetkāraravāñśivāśca krandanti yodhā bhuvi vedanārttāḥ śastraprataptā nipatanti cānye yuddhaṃ śmaśānapratimaṃ babhūva
Los chacales lanzan aullidos agudos; los guerreros, afligidos por el dolor, lloran en el suelo. Otros, abrasados y atormentados por las armas, caen. La batalla se volvió semejante a un campo de cremación.
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FAQs
The comparison of battle to a śmaśāna foregrounds anitya (impermanence) and the futility of pride in power. It also implies a dharmic critique: even ‘heroic’ war rapidly devolves into suffering, fear, and death, demanding restraint and right intention.
This is carita-style narration within an asura–deva episode, serving the Purāṇic function of moral instruction through vivid historical/legendary scenes rather than genealogical listing or cosmology.
Jackals and cremation-ground imagery are strongly associated with Rudra/Śiva’s liminal domains (śmaśāna) in broader Hindu symbolism, but here primarily mark the battlefield as a domain of death where social and ritual order collapses—an anti-yajña landscape.