Vamana Purana — Shukra's Curse on King Danda, Shloka 44

Shukra’s Curse on King Danda and Andhaka’s Challenge to Shiva

Devanagari script

ततस्तेनातिदुष्टेन वानरेण ह्यभिद्रुता समारूढास्मि सहसा बन्दुजीवं नगोत्तमम्

Transliteration

tatastenātiduṣṭena vānareṇa hyabhidrutā samārūḍhāsmi sahasā bandujīvaṃ nagottamam

Translation

അപ്പോൾ അത്യന്തം ദുഷ്ടനായ ആ വാനരൻ എന്നെ പിന്തുടർന്ന് ഓടിവന്നു. അവന്റെ വേട്ടയാടലിൽ ഞാൻ പെട്ടെന്ന് ‘ബന്ധുജീവ’ എന്ന പേരുള്ള ശ്രേഷ്ഠ പർവതത്തിൽ കയറി.

Speakers

• Unspecified female narrator (first-person) recounting events to the chapter’s main interlocutor(s) (not provided in prompt).

Key Themes

• Peril and flight (narrative catalyst)
• Sacred landscape as setting (named mountain)
• Moral contrast (atiduṣṭa aggressor)

Verse Rasa (Emotional Flavour)

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

FAQs

Why is a named mountain (Bandujīva) important in a Purāṇic geography text?

In the Vāmana Purāṇa, local legends are frequently anchored to specific toponyms. Naming Bandujīva turns the episode into a place-memory: the narrative explains why the site is remembered and how it fits into a tīrtha-network.

Does the verse imply the mountain is itself a tīrtha?

Not explicitly here. The verse only identifies Bandujīva as a prominent mountain. In many māhātmya sections, such a named feature later becomes linked to merit (puṇya) through subsequent events or associated waters/rites.

Who is the ‘wicked monkey’—is it Hanumān or a generic vānarā?

The text uses vānara in a non-epic, non-honorific sense and qualifies it as atiduṣṭa (‘very wicked’), which strongly suggests a generic or local vānarā figure rather than Hanumān.