Vamana Purana — Andhaka's Coronation, Shloka 36
Andhaka’s Coronation, Boons from Shiva, and the Daiva–Asura War (Vahana Catalogues)
शोणितोदा रथावर्त्ता योधसंघट्टवाहिनी गजकुम्भमाहकूर्मा शरमीना दुरत्यया
śoṇitodā rathāvarttā yodhasaṃghaṭṭavāhinī gajakumbhamāhakūrmā śaramīnā duratyayā
त्या नदीचे पाणी रक्त होते; तिचे भोवरे रथ होते; तिचा प्रवाह योद्ध्यांच्या समूहांच्या धडकांचा होता। हत्तींचे कुंभ तिचे महान कासव होते; बाण तिचे मासे—ती ओलांडणे कठीण होती।
{ "primaryRasa": "bhayanaka", "secondaryRasa": "bibhatsa", "rasaIntensity": 0, "emotionalArcPosition": "", "moodDescriptors": [] }
FAQs
By aestheticizing violence into a ‘river,’ the text simultaneously conveys grandeur and horror; it cautions that warfare creates a self-sustaining current of harm that becomes ‘uncrossable’ once unleashed.
It is episodic narrative material aligned with Vamśānucarita/Manvantara-associated Deva–Asura struggles (a common Purāṇic narrative layer), not cosmological sarga/pratisarga.
The ‘river of blood’ is a dharmic inversion of sacred rivers: instead of purifying, it embodies adharma’s consequences; martial objects become aquatic life, suggesting violence naturalized into an ecosystem.