Vamana Purana — Skanda Slays Taraka & Mahisha, Shloka 100
Skanda’s Svastyayana and the Slaying of Taraka and Mahisha
तमुवाच सहस्राक्षस्त्वत्तो ऽहं बलवान् गुह तं गृहः प्राह एह्येहि युद्ध्यस्व बलवान् यदि
tamuvāca sahasrākṣastvatto 'haṃ balavān guha taṃ gṛhaḥ prāha ehyehi yuddhyasva balavān yadi
Lalu Sahasrākṣa (Indra) berkata kepadanya: “Wahai Guha, aku lebih kuat darimu.” Guha menjawab: “Kalau begitu, kemarilah—bertarunglah, jika engkau benar-benar kuat.”
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FAQs
“Guha” is a standard epithet of Skanda meaning “the hidden/mysterious one,” also linked to his association with caves and mountain sanctuaries. In narrative terms it functions as a direct, familiar address to the war-god who is nevertheless youthful and enigmatic.
The diction is martial (“yuddhyasva”), but in this chapter the rivalry typically shifts into a structured test of superiority (vīrya-parīkṣā), where prowess may be demonstrated through feats rather than sustained warfare.
No explicit river, lake, forest, or tīrtha is named in this śloka; the geographic element emerges in the subsequent verses through the mention of Krauñca (a mountain/landmark used as the circuit point).