Vamana Purana — Sukeshi's Inquiry into Dharma, Shloka 19
Sukeshi’s Inquiry into Dharma: The Seven Dvipas and the Twenty-One Hells
तमाक्रन्दितमाकर्ण्य हिरण्याक्षसुतो ऽन्धकः प्रोवाच मा भैष्टच मयि स्थिते को ऽयं सुराधमः
tamākranditamākarṇya hiraṇyākṣasuto 'ndhakaḥ provāca mā bhaiṣṭaca mayi sthite ko 'yaṃ surādhamaḥ
ಆ ಅಳಲನ್ನು ಕೇಳಿ ಹಿರಣ್ಯಾಕ್ಷನ ಪುತ್ರ ಅಂಧಕನು ಹೇಳಿದನು—“ಭಯಪಡಬೇಡಿ; ನಾನು ಇಲ್ಲಿರುವಾಗ ಈ ನೀಚ ದೇವನು ಯಾರು?”
{ "primaryRasa": "vira", "secondaryRasa": "raudra", "rasaIntensity": 0, "emotionalArcPosition": "", "moodDescriptors": [] }
FAQs
The passage illustrates the dynamics of adharma-driven leadership: reassurance is offered not through truth-seeking but through pride and contempt. It is a cautionary portrait of courage untethered from righteousness.
Vamśānucarita/Carita: it continues the narrative of daitya lineages (Hiraṇyākṣa → Andhaka) and their conduct within the cosmic struggle.
Andhaka’s rhetorical question (“who is this surādhama?”) signals inversion of values: the deva is demeaned, while daitya power is self-exalted—an archetypal Purāṇic marker of tamasic delusion preceding a corrective intervention.