Vamana Purana — Nara-Narayana's Tapas, Shloka 64
Nara-Narayana’s Tapas, Indra’s Temptation, and the Burning of Kama: The Origin of Ananga and the Shiva-Linga Episode
त्यक्त्वाश्रमणि शून्यानि स्वानिता मुनियोषितः अनुडजग्मुर्यथा मत्तं करिण्य इव कुञ्जरम्
tyaktvāśramaṇi śūnyāni svānitā muniyoṣitaḥ anuḍajagmuryathā mattaṃ kariṇya iva kuñjaram
Abandonando sus āśrama, ahora vacíos, las esposas de los sabios lo siguieron, como elefantas que siguen a un elefante macho enloquecido por el celo.
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FAQs
The verse highlights the disruptive force of desire (kāma) even in ascetic settings: when the focal object of fascination departs, the āśrama becomes ‘empty’ in both a literal and symbolic sense, warning that spiritual life collapses when attention is carried away from dharma and self-restraint.
Primarily within Vamśānucarita/Carita-type narrative material (didactic-illustrative episode about a deity and sages), rather than cosmogenesis (sarga/pratisarga). It functions as an exemplary story embedded in the Purāṇic discourse.
The elephant simile encodes overpowering attraction and loss of discrimination; ‘empty hermitages’ suggests that external renunciation without inner steadiness is fragile. The episode sets up the sages’ reaction (v.65) and the dramatic divine response (v.66).