Vamana Purana — Battle at Mandara, Shloka 37

The Battle at Mandara: Vinayaka, Nandin, and Skanda Rout the Daitya Hosts

Devanagari script

हते तुहुण्डे विमुखे च राहौ गणेश्वराः क्रोधविषं मुमुक्षवः पञ्चैककालानलसन्निकाशा विशान्ति सेनां दनुपुङ्गवानाम्

Transliteration

hate tuhuṇḍe vimukhe ca rāhau gaṇeśvarāḥ krodhaviṣaṃ mumukṣavaḥ pañcaikakālānalasannikāśā viśānti senāṃ danupuṅgavānām

Translation

തുഹുണ്ഡൻ കൊല്ലപ്പെടുകയും രാഹു പിന്തിരിയുകയും ചെയ്തപ്പോൾ, കോപാഗ്നി വർഷിക്കാൻ വെമ്പുന്ന ഗണേശ്വരന്മാർ പ്രളയകാലാഗ്നി പോലെ ദാനവസേനയിൽ പ്രവേശിച്ചു.

Speakers

• Narrator (Purāṇic sūta-style narration) describing the battle; direct interlocutors not explicit in the given verse.

Primary Deities

• Shiva (via Gaṇeśvaras/gaṇas)

Key Themes

• Martial epic description
• Fury as a destructive ‘poison’
• Gaṇa/gaṇeśvara intervention in asura warfare
• Eschatological imagery (pralaya-fire simile)

Verse Rasa (Emotional Flavour)

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

FAQs

Who are the ‘Gaṇeśvaras’ here—Gaṇeśa himself or Śiva’s gaṇas?

In Purāṇic battle passages, gaṇeśvara can denote leaders of Śiva’s gaṇas (attendant troops). The next verse explicitly names ‘Vināyaka’, indicating that Vināyaka/Gaṇeśa is present as a commander among these forces, while ‘gaṇeśvarāḥ’ can still function collectively for the gaṇa-host.

What does ‘pañcaika-kālānala’ imply?

It is a heightened simile: the attackers are likened to the conflagration of dissolution (pralaya). ‘Pañca-kāla’ can refer to a fivefold division of time; ‘pañcaika’ compresses it into a single overwhelming end-time, intensifying the image of unstoppable destructive heat.

Why is anger called ‘poison’ (krodha-viṣa)?

The Purāṇas frequently treat krodha as a toxic force that corrupts judgment and destroys both enemy and self. Here it functions as a poetic rationale for the gaṇas’ ferocity as they surge into the Dānava ranks.