Vamana Purana — Andhaka's Defeat & Redemption, Shloka 64

Andhaka’s Defeat, the Bhairava Manifestation, and His Redemption as Bhṛṅgī Gaṇapati

Devanagari script

त्वमादिरन्तो मध्यश्च त्वमनादिः सहस्रपात् विजयस्त्वं सहस्राक्षो विरूपाक्षो महाभुजः

Transliteration

tvamādiranto madhyaśca tvamanādiḥ sahasrapāt vijayastvaṃ sahasrākṣo virūpākṣo mahābhujaḥ

Translation

તમે જ આદિ, અંત અને મધ્ય છો; છતાં તમે અનાદિ છો. તમે સહસ્રપાદ છો; તમે વિજયસ્વરૂપ છો; તમે સહસ્રાક્ષ છો; તમે વિરূপાક્ષ છો; તમે મહાભુજ છો.

Speakers

• Unnamed devotee/praiser addressing the Supreme Lord (Īśvara) in a hymn; interlocutors not specified in the given excerpt.

Primary Deities

• Īśvara (Supreme Lord)
• Indra (by epithet resonance: sahasrākṣa)

Key Themes

• Cosmic totality (beginning–middle–end)
• Beginningless absolute (anādi)
• Puruṣa/cosmic-body imagery
• Divine sovereignty and victory
• Protective power

Verse Rasa (Emotional Flavour)

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

FAQs

Isn’t it contradictory to say ‘You are the beginning’ and also ‘You are beginningless (anādi)’?

The hymn distinguishes two levels: as the cause and ground of the cosmos the Lord is ‘beginning’ relative to the manifested universe; in the absolute sense the Lord has no prior origin and is therefore ‘beginningless’.

What is implied by ‘sahasra-pāt’ and ‘sahasrākṣa’?

These are cosmic epithets: ‘thousand-footed’ evokes the all-encompassing Puruṣa whose body is the universe; ‘thousand-eyed’ indicates omniscience and universal oversight (also echoing Indra’s epithet, now subsumed into the Supreme).

Does ‘Vijaya’ mean a specific deity or an abstract quality?

Primarily it is the abstract power of triumph—victory in dharma, battle, and spiritual striving. Purāṇic style often personifies such powers, but here it functions as an epithet asserting that all success and conquest ultimately rest in the Lord.