Vamana Purana — Vishnu Slays Kalanemi, Shloka 48

Vishnu Enters the Deva–Asura War and Slays Kalanemi

Devanagari script

गदां छित्त्वा दानवाभ्याशमेत्य भुजौ पीनौ संप्रचिच्छेद वेगात् भुजाभ्यां कृत्ताभ्यां दग्धशैलप्रकाशः संदृश्येताप्यपरः कालनेमि // वम्प्_47.47 ततो ऽस्य माधवः कोपात् शिरश्चक्रेण भूतले छित्त्वा निपातयामास पक्वं तालफलं यथा

Transliteration

gadāṃ chittvā dānavābhyāśametya bhujau pīnau saṃpraciccheda vegāt bhujābhyāṃ kṛttābhyāṃ dagdhaśailaprakāśaḥ saṃdṛśyetāpyaparaḥ kālanemi // VamP_47.47 tato 'sya mādhavaḥ kopāt śiraścakreṇa bhūtale chittvā nipātayāmāsa pakvaṃ tālaphalaṃ yathā

Translation

Having cut down the mace, (the Lord) approached the dānava and swiftly severed his stout arms. With both arms cut off, he appeared like another Kālanemi, resembling a mountain scorched by fire. Then Mādhava, in wrath, with his discus, cut off his head and caused it to fall upon the earth—like a ripe fruit of the tāla palm.

Speakers

• Narrator (Purāṇic sūta-style narration) describing the battle; no direct speech in these verses.

Primary Deities

• Vishnu (Mādhava)

Key Themes

• Divine retribution against asuras
• Iconography of Viṣṇu (Sudarśana-cakra)
• Epic battle similes (tāla-fruit, burnt mountain)
• Asura typology (Kālanemi as comparative figure)

Verse Rasa (Emotional Flavour)

{ "primaryRasa": "raudra", "secondaryRasa": "vira", "rasaIntensity": 0, "emotionalArcPosition": "", "moodDescriptors": [] }

FAQs

Why is the demon compared to Kālanemi after his arms are cut off?

Kālanemi is a well-known asura-name used across Purāṇic and Itihāsa traditions; here it functions as a stock comparison for a terrifying, battle-wrecked demon-form. The text intensifies the visual: the armless body is likened to a ‘fire-scorched mountain,’ and then to ‘another Kālanemi,’ signaling dread and recognizability rather than introducing a new character.

What is conveyed by the simile ‘like a ripe tāla fruit’?

The tāla (palmyra) fruit drops cleanly when fully ripe. The simile underscores the effortless decisiveness of Viṣṇu’s cakra: the head falls with inevitability and finality, emphasizing divine superiority and the completeness of the asura’s defeat.

Does this passage contain any tīrtha or geographic marker typical of the Vāmana Purāṇa?

No. Despite the Vāmana Purāṇa’s strong geographic/tīrtha orientation in many sections, these verses belong to a combat narrative unit and contain no explicit sacred-geography terms (no rivers, forests, mountains by proper name, or pilgrimage sites).