Vamana Purana — Prahlada vs Nara-Narayana, Shloka 14
Prahlada’s Defeat by Nara-Narayana and Victory through Bhakti
माधवो ऽप्युर्वशीं दृष्ट्वा संचिन्तयत नारद किंस्वित् कामनरेन्द्रस्य राजधानी स्वयं स्थिता
mādhavo 'pyurvaśīṃ dṛṣṭvā saṃcintayata nārada kiṃsvit kāmanarendrasya rājadhānī svayaṃ sthitā
ನಾರದಾ, ಮಾಧವನು ಕೂಡ ಉರ್ವಶಿಯನ್ನು ನೋಡಿ ಚಿಂತಿಸಿದನು—‘ಕಾಮನರೇಂದ್ರನ ರಾಜಧಾನಿಯೇ ಸ್ವಯಂ ಇಲ್ಲಿ ನಿಂತಿದೆಯೇ?’
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FAQs
The verse underscores how sensory splendor can dominate cognition, making the mind interpret beauty as the very ‘realm’ of desire. It cautions that even the divine epithet ‘Mādhava’ is used here to frame the narrative’s didactic point: vigilance over the mind’s projections.
Ancillary narrative (ākhyāna) serving dharma-upadeśa; not primarily cosmological or genealogical, but a moralizing episode within the Purāṇic storytelling frame.
Calling Urvāśī the ‘capital of King Kāma’ symbolizes the concentration of tempting objects into a single locus that ‘rules’ the psyche—desire becomes political sovereignty over the inner kingdom.