Vamana Purana — Shukra's Samjivani, Shloka 159
Shukra’s Saṃjīvanī, Shiva’s Containment of the Asuras, and Indra’s Recovery of Power
तस्मिन् हते भ्रातरि माधवेन जम्भस्ततः क्रोधवशं जगाम क्रोधान्वितः शक्रमुपाद्रवद् रणे सिंहं यतैणो ऽतिविपन्नबुद्धिः // वम्प्_43.158 तमापतन्तं प्रसमीक्ष्य शक्रस्त्यक्त्वैव चापं सशरं महात्मा जग्राह शक्तिं यमदण्डकल्पां तामग्निदत्तां रिपवे ससर्ज
tasmin hate bhrātari mādhavena jambhastataḥ krodhavaśaṃ jagāma krodhānvitaḥ śakramupādravad raṇe siṃhaṃ yataiṇo 'tivipannabuddhiḥ // VamP_43.158 tamāpatantaṃ prasamīkṣya śakrastyaktvaiva cāpaṃ saśaraṃ mahātmā jagrāha śaktiṃ yamadaṇḍakalpāṃ tāmagnidattāṃ ripave sasarja
When his brother had been slain by Mādhava (Viṣṇu), Jambha then came under the sway of wrath. Filled with anger, he charged at Śakra in battle—like a deer rushing upon a lion—his judgment utterly ruined. (Adjacent verse cited in the input:) Seeing him rushing in, the great-souled Śakra, abandoning his bow with its arrows, seized a spear like Yama’s staff, given by Agni, and hurled it at the enemy.
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FAQs
It marks Jambha’s assault as reckless and self-destructive: the deer-lion reversal signals a collapse of discernment (ati-vipanna-buddhi) under anger, a common Purāṇic moral psychology where krodha eclipses viveka (discrimination).
Weapon-gifting establishes a network of divine cooperation: Agni’s gift legitimizes Indra’s counterstrike as supported by cosmic powers. It also elevates the śakti’s potency—‘Yama’s staff-like’—to indicate death-dealing inevitability.
Purāṇic battle books often interleave subsidiary asura champions within a larger campaign. The slaying of figures like Kujambha and the ensuing duels function as episodic intensifications within the wider war narrative that culminates in the principal antagonist’s defeat.