Vamana Purana — Andhaka's Defeat & Redemption, Shloka 8

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

Devanagari script

वहन्तस्तुरगा दैत्यं प्राप्ताः प्रमथवाहिनीम् संवत्सरेण साग्रेण वायुवेगसमा अपि

Transliteration

vahantasturagā daityaṃ prāptāḥ pramathavāhinīm saṃvatsareṇa sāgreṇa vāyuvegasamā api

Translation

दैत्य को ढोते हुए वे घोड़े, वायु के समान वेगवान होते हुए भी, पूरे एक वर्ष से अधिक समय में प्रमथों की सेना तक पहुँचे।

Speakers

• Narrator to the sage-interlocutor; emphasizing the paradox of wind-speed horses taking a year to reach Shiva’s attendant host.

Primary Deities

• Shiva (Hara)

Key Themes

• Mythic time dilation
• Shiva’s overwhelming sphere of power
• Pramatha-gaṇa as divine military host
• Andhaka’s doomed advance

Verse Rasa (Emotional Flavour)

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

FAQs

How can wind-speed horses take a year to reach the Pramatha host?

This is a common Puranic device: time and distance expand in the presence of divine power or in mythic battle-fields. The ‘year’ underscores that Andhaka’s advance toward Shiva is obstructed not by ordinary terrain but by a supra-normal field of force (tejas/māyā) associated with Hara and his gaṇas.

Who are the Pramathas in ‘pramatha-vāhinī’?

Pramathas are Shiva’s fierce attendants (a class of gaṇas), often depicted as terrifying, irregular troops who execute Shiva’s will in battles and cosmic policing. Their ‘vāhinī’ frames them as an organized host in this episode.

Is any specific sacred place implied by this travel-time statement?

No explicit geography is named here. The line functions rhetorically (paradox of speed vs. duration) rather than as a pilgrimage or tirtha locator, which the Vamana Purana provides in other sections.