Vamana Purana — Nara-Narayana's Tapas, Shloka 5
Nara-Narayana’s Tapas, Indra’s Temptation, and the Burning of Kama: The Origin of Ananga and the Shiva-Linga Episode
नरनारायणाभ्यां च जगदेतच्चराचरम् तापितं तपसा ब्रह्मन् शक्रः क्षोभं तदा ययौ
naranārāyaṇābhyāṃ ca jagadetaccarācaram tāpitaṃ tapasā brahman śakraḥ kṣobhaṃ tadā yayau
Par l’austérité de Nara et de Nārāyaṇa, ce monde tout entier—mobile et immobile—fut comme embrasé et mis à trembler. Alors, ô brahmane, Śakra (Indra) fut troublé et pris d’alarme.
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FAQs
Tapas is portrayed as a real cosmic force: disciplined restraint and spiritual effort can shake even the gods. Ethically, it cautions that power rooted in self-mastery is superior to power rooted in office (like Indra’s kingship), and that fear-driven responses to virtue often lead to further moral compromise.
This is best classified under Vamśānucarita/Carita-type narrative material (accounts of sages and divine figures) rather than sarga/pratisarga. It functions as a recurrent purāṇic motif: Indra’s insecurity when confronted with extraordinary tapas.
‘Heating the world’ symbolizes the transformative intensity of inner discipline: tapas ‘cooks’ impurities and destabilizes complacent cosmic order. Indra’s agitation symbolizes the ego’s fear when confronted by genuine spiritual authority.