Vamana Purana — Shukra's Samjivani, Shloka 121

Shukra’s Saṃjīvanī, Shiva’s Containment of the Asuras, and Indra’s Recovery of Power

Devanagari script

पतमानाद् द्विपेन्द्रात् तु शक्रश्चाप्लुत्य वेगवान् त्यक्त्वैव मन्दरगिरिं पपात वसुधातले

Transliteration

patamānād dvipendrāt tu śakraścāplutya vegavān tyaktvaiva mandaragiriṃ papāta vasudhātale

Translation

{"syncretic_content": true, "primary_deity": "Shiva", "secondary_deities": ["Brahma", "devas"], "hari_hara_unity": null, "shakti_presence": null, "theological_tradition": "shaiva"}

Speakers

• Narrator describing sequential battle events.

Primary Deities

• Indra (Śakra)

Key Themes

• Cosmic-scale battle setting
• Fall of a deity from an elevated locus
• Mythic geography as stage for combat

Verse Rasa (Emotional Flavour)

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

FAQs

Why is Mandara Mountain mentioned here?

Mandara functions as a recognizable cosmic landmark and elevated battleground in Purāṇic imagination. Mentioning it signals that the combat occurs on a grand, supra-human stage, and that Indra’s fall is correspondingly dramatic.

Does ‘tyaktvaiva mandaragirim’ mean Indra was residing on Mandara?

It can mean he had taken position upon/near Mandara as a strategic vantage point during the fight. The phrasing emphasizes a forced retreat—he ‘abandons’ that support and is driven down to earth.

Is this fall a literal descent to Bhūmi or a poetic way of stating defeat?

Purāṇic battle narration often blends literal and emblematic registers. Here it is both: a physical fall (papāta) and a narrative marker of Indra’s loss of control and status in that moment.