Vamana Purana — Nara-Narayana's Tapas, Shloka 96

Nara-Narayana’s Tapas, Indra’s Temptation, and the Burning of Kama: The Origin of Ananga and the Shiva-Linga Episode

Devanagari script

आलोकितस्त्रिनेत्रेण मदनो द्युतिमानपि प्रादह्यत तदा ब्रह्मन् पादादारभ्य कक्षवत्

Transliteration

ālokitastrinetreṇa madano dyutimānapi prādahyata tadā brahman pādādārabhya kakṣavat

Translation

ពេលមទនៈ (កាមៈ) ទោះបីភ្លឺរលោង ក៏ត្រូវបានព្រះត្រីនេត្រ (សិវៈ) សម្លឹងមើល ហើយត្រូវបានដុតឆេះ អើយព្រហ្មណ៍ ចាប់ពីជើងឡើងទៅ ដូចឈើស្ងួតសម្រាប់ភ្លើង។

Word by Word

• ālokitaḥ: having been looked at
• ālokitaḥ: Karta (कर्ता/Subject; predicate participle)
• Type: Verb
• Root: ā-√lok (धातु) + kta (कृत्)
• Form: क्त-प्रत्ययान्त कृदन्त (past passive participle); पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचन

• trinetreṇa: by the three-eyed (Śiva)
• trinetreṇa: Karana (करण/Instrument)
• Type: Noun
• Root: tri-netra (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, तृतीया, एकवचन; करण (by the three-eyed one / by the three eyes)

• madanaḥ: Madana (Kāma)
• madanaḥ: Karta (कर्ता/Subject)
• Type: Noun
• Root: madana (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचन

• dyutimān: radiant
• dyutimān: Karta (कर्ता/Subject; qualifier)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: dyutimat (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचन; विशेषण

• api: even
• api: Sambandha (सम्बन्ध/particle)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: api (अव्यय)
• Form: अपि-कार अव्यय (even/also)

• prādahyata: was burnt
• prādahyata: Kriya (क्रिया/Finite verb)
• Type: Verb
• Root: pra-√dah (धातु)
• Form: लङ् (Imperfect/Past), प्रथमपुरुष, एकवचन; आत्मनेपद/कर्मणि-प्रयोग (was burnt)

• tadā: then
• tadā: Kala (काल/Time)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: tadā (अव्यय)
• Form: कालवाचक अव्यय

• brahman: O Brahmin (O sage)
• brahman: Sambodhana (सम्बोधन/Vocative)
• Type: Noun
• Root: brahman (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, सम्बोधन (Vocative), एकवचन

• pādāt: from the foot
• pādāt: Apadana (अपादान/Starting point)
• Type: Noun
• Root: pāda (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, पञ्चमी (5th/Ablative), एकवचन; आरम्भ (starting from)

• ārabhya: starting from
• ārabhya: Sambandha (सम्बन्ध/Adverbial)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: ā-√rabh (धातु) + lyap (ल्यप्)
• Form: ल्यप्-प्रत्ययान्त अव्ययकृदन्त (gerundial indeclinable) ‘starting from’

• kakṣavat: like kindling/like dry grass
• kakṣavat: Sambandha (सम्बन्ध/Simile)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: kakṣāvat (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: उपमानवाचक अव्यय/तद्धितान्त अव्ययप्राय (like a dry grass/like kindling; ‘-वत्’ as comparative)

Speakers

• Unspecified in the provided excerpt (likely within Pulastya–Nārada narrative frame typical of the Purāṇa)

Primary Deities

• Shiva
• Kama (Madana)

Key Themes

• Shaivism
• Tapas (ascetic power)
• Control of desire
• Divine wrath and purification

Verse Rasa (Emotional Flavour)

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

FAQs

What is the philosophical or ethical takeaway?

Desire (kāma), even when attractive and radiant, is powerless before concentrated ascetic insight; the verse underscores mastery of senses and the primacy of tapas over impulse.

How does this fit the Pancalakshana?

Primarily within Vamśānucarita/Carita-type narrative material (accounts of divine deeds) rather than cosmogenesis; it is an episode illustrating a deity’s act and its consequences.

What is the symbolic significance?

Śiva’s gaze represents discriminative, consuming knowledge (jñāna-agni) that burns desire at its root—‘from the feet upward’—signifying total eradication rather than partial restraint.