Vamana Purana — Prahlada's Victory through Bhakti, Shloka 42
Prahlada’s Defeat in Battle and Victory through Bhakti (Nara-Narayana Episode)
तस्माद्यदिच्छसि जयं तमाराधय दानव तं पराजेष्यसे भक्त्या तस्माच्छुश्रूष धर्मजम्
tasmādyadicchasi jayaṃ tamārādhaya dānava taṃ parājeṣyase bhaktyā tasmācchuśrūṣa dharmajam
ਇਸ ਲਈ ਹੇ ਦਾਨਵ! ਜੇ ਤੂੰ ਜਿੱਤ ਚਾਹੁੰਦਾ ਹੈਂ ਤਾਂ ਉਸ ਦੀ ਆਰਾਧਨਾ ਕਰ। ਭਗਤੀ ਨਾਲ ਤੂੰ ਉਸ ਨੂੰ ਪਰਾਜਿਤ ਕਰੇਂਗਾ; ਇਸ ਕਰਕੇ ਧਰਮ-ਜਨਿਤ ਉਪਦੇਸ਼ ਨੂੰ ਆਗਿਆਕਾਰੀ ਹੋ ਕੇ ਮੰਨ।
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FAQs
Victory is subordinated to devotion and alignment with dharma: power is not merely strategic but moral-spiritual. The verse also implies that even adversarial figures (Dānavas) are counselled toward bhakti and righteous obedience rather than sheer force.
Didactic material embedded in narrative (carita). It supports purāṇic dharma-teaching rather than cosmogenesis or genealogical cataloguing; thus it aligns with the instructional function commonly interwoven with Vamśānucarita-style episodes.
‘Defeat by bhakti’ reverses the usual daitya logic of conquest by might, symbolizing the purāṇic claim that devotion is a higher causal force than brute strength—reorienting ambition toward sacral legitimacy (dharmaja).