Shloka 27

प्रद्युम्न-अपहरणम्, मत्स्य-उद्धारः, मायावती-शिक्षा, शम्बरवधः, रुक्मिणी-पुत्र-संगमः

Devanagari script

मन्मथे तु गते नाशं तदुद्भवपरायणा शम्बरं मोहयाम् आस मायारूपेण रूपिणी

Transliteration

manmathe tu gate nāśaṃ tadudbhavaparāyaṇā śambaraṃ mohayām āsa māyārūpeṇa rūpiṇī

Translation

Namun ketika Manmatha binasa, dia—yang sentiasa tertumpu pada yang lahir daripadanya—membuat Śambara terpesona, mengenakan rupa māyā walaupun dirinya berjasad nyata.

Word by Word

• मन्मथे: when/with Manmatha
• मन्मथे: Adhikarana (Location/अधिकरण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: मन्मथ (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, सप्तमी-विभक्ति (Locative/7th), एकवचन

• तु: but/indeed
• तु: Sambandha (Discourse particle)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: तु (अव्यय)
• Form: समुच्चय/विरोधार्थक-अव्यय (particle: but/indeed)

• गते: when (he) had gone
• गते: Adhikarana (Locative absolute)
• Type: Verb
• Root: गम् (धातु)
• Form: क्त-प्रत्ययान्त कृदन्त, पुंलिङ्ग, सप्तमी-विभक्ति, एकवचन; सति-सप्तमी (locative absolute)

• नाशम्: to destruction
• नाशम्: Gati/Phala (Result/goal)
• Type: Noun
• Root: नाश (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, द्वितीया-विभक्ति, एकवचन

• तद्-उद्भव-परायणा: intent on bringing forth (his) offspring
• तद्-उद्भव-परायणा: Visheshana (Qualifier/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: तद् (प्रातिपदिक) + उद्भव (प्रातिपदिक) + परायण (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा-विभक्ति, एकवचन; तत्पुरुष-समासः (तस्य उद्भवे परायणा = devoted to his birth/production)

• शम्बरम्: Śambara
• शम्बरम्: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: शम्बर (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, द्वितीया-विभक्ति, एकवचन

• मोहयाम्: bewildered/enchanted
• मोहयाम्: Kriya (Predicate/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: मुह् (धातु)
• Form: लिट्-लकार (Perfect), प्रथमपुरुष, एकवचन; परस्मैपद; periphrastic perfect with ‘आस’

• आस: did/was (aux.)
• आस: Kriya (Auxiliary)
• Type: Verb
• Root: अस् (धातु)
• Form: लिट्-लकार (Perfect), प्रथमपुरुष, एकवचन; सहायक-क्रिया (auxiliary)

• माया-रूपेण: by a magical form
• माया-रूपेण: Karana (Instrument/करण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: माया (प्रातिपदिक) + रूप (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, तृतीया-विभक्ति (Instrumental/3rd), एकवचन; तत्पुरुषः (मायायाः रूपम्)

• रूपिणी: the form-possessing (woman)
• रूपिणी: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: रूपिन् (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा-विभक्ति, एकवचन; विशेषण

Speaker

Sage Parāśara (narrating to Maitreya)

Parashara-Maitreya Dialogue

Speaker: Parasara

Topic: How Rati, after Kāma’s destruction, came to bewilder Śambara by māyā-form

Teaching: Historical

Quality: authoritative

Avatara Context

Avatara: Krishna

Purpose: In Krishna’s era, the divine associates (Pradyumna as Kāma and Rati) re-manifest to continue cosmic functions, countering asuric interference through māyā and providence.

Leela: Loka-rakshana

Dharma Restored: Continuity of divine order (kāma-tattva functioning within dharma) and protection of Bhagavān’s entourage

Philosophical Teaching

Concept: Māyā can veil truth and produce delusion, yet it can also be employed instrumentally within dharma to overcome adharmic power.

Vedantic Theme: Maya

Application: Cultivate discernment (viveka) so that attractive appearances do not enslave the mind; align skills and strategies to dharma rather than ego.

Vishishtadvaita: Māyā operates under Bhagavān’s sovereignty; the real embodied self is not identical with its illusory projections, supporting qualified non-dual realism.

Vaishnava Theology

Vishnu Form: Krishna

Vyuha Form: Pradyumna

Characters & Entities

• Manmatha (Kāma)
• Śambara
• Māyā (illusion)

FAQs

What is the significance of māyā (illusion) in this Vishnu Purana verse?

The verse uses māyā as the concrete mechanism of delusion—an assumed appearance that clouds an asura’s perception and redirects events within the moral-cosmic order the Purāṇa portrays.

How does Sage Parāśara explain delusion in the dialogue with Maitreya here?

Parāśara frames moha as something produced through a deliberate assumption of form (māyārūpa), showing how narrative causality in the Purāṇa often turns on perception being manipulated.

What is the theological importance of Lord Vishnu in this context?

Even when Vishnu is not named in the line, the episode reflects the Purāṇa’s worldview where cosmic sovereignty and order ultimately rest with Vishnu, under whose overarching governance beings fall into delusion or clarity according to their karmic and dharmic trajectory.