Vamana Purana — Vishnu Slays Kalanemi, Shloka 41

Vishnu Enters the Deva–Asura War and Slays Kalanemi

Devanagari script

तैर्वाणैश्छाद्यमाना हरिकरनुदितैः कालदण्डप्रकाशैर्नाराचैरर्धचन्द्रैर्बालिमयपुरागा भीतभीतास्त्वारन्तः प्रारम्बे दानवेन्द्रं शतवदनमथो प्रेषयन् कालनेमिं स प्रायाद् देवसैन्यप्रभुममितबलं केशवं लोकनाथम्

Transliteration

tairvāṇaiśchādyamānā harikaranuditaiḥ kāladaṇḍaprakāśairnārācairardhacandrairbālimayapurāgā bhītabhītāstvārantaḥ prārambe dānavendraṃ śatavadanamatho preṣayan kālanemiṃ sa prāyād devasainyaprabhumamitabalaṃ keśavaṃ lokanātham

Translation

ഹരിയുടെ കൈയിൽ നിന്നു പ്രേരിതമായി, യമദണ്ഡംപോലെ പ്രകാശിക്കുന്ന ആ ബാണങ്ങൾ—നാരാചങ്ങളും അർദ്ധചന്ദ്രാകൃതിയുള്ള ശരങ്ങളും—കൊണ്ട് മൂടപ്പെട്ട ബലി-മയ നഗരങ്ങളിൽ നിന്നുവന്ന ദൈത്യർ വീണ്ടും വീണ്ടും ഭയന്ന് യുദ്ധാരംഭത്തിലേ തന്നെ ആശയക്കുഴപ്പത്തിലായി. അപ്പോൾ ദാനവേന്ദ്രൻ, ശതമുഖൻ, കാലനേമിയെ അയച്ചു; അവൻ ദേവസൈന്യപ്രഭു, ലോകനാഥൻ, അമിതബലനായ കേശവനെ നേരിടാൻ മുന്നേറി.

Speakers

• Narrator continuing the battle account (interlocutors not specified in excerpt).

Primary Deities

• Vishnu (Keshava/Hari)
• Kalanemi
• Dānavendra (asura overlord)
• Kāla (as Death/Yama, by metaphor)

Key Themes

• Inevitability of divine punishment (Kāla-daṇḍa imagery)
• Asura disarray under divine assault
• Command structure among Daityas (dispatching champions)
• Viṣṇu as protector and war-leader of Devas
• Escalation by sending Kālanemi

Verse Rasa (Emotional Flavour)

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

FAQs

What does the ‘kāla-daṇḍa’ simile add to the battle description?

By likening the arrows’ radiance to the ‘rod of Death,’ the verse frames Viṣṇu’s attack as not merely martial but juridical-cosmic: the Daityas are meeting an inescapable sentence aligned with cosmic order (ṛta/dharma).

Who is the ‘śata-vadana’ (hundred-faced) Dānava lord?

The epithet indicates a formidable asura commander characterized by overwhelming presence or many-aspected power. In Purāṇic style, such epithets can function descriptively without requiring a single fixed identity across all traditions; here it primarily marks the asura overlord who orders Kālanemi into combat.

Does this passage contain any tīrtha or geographic markers typical of the Vāmana Purāṇa?

Not in these three verses. Despite the Vāmana Purāṇa’s strong geographic/tīrtha orientation elsewhere, this excerpt is purely martial narrative, using ‘pura’ (fortress/city) references to asura polities without naming rivers, forests, or pilgrimage sites.