Vamana Purana — Harihara Non-Duality, Shloka 14

Harihara Non-Duality and the Revelation of Sadasiva to the Ganas

Devanagari script

दिग्वाससो मौनिनश्च घण्टाप्रहरणास्तथा निराश्रया नाम गणाः समायाता जगद्गुरो

Transliteration

digvāsaso mauninaśca ghaṇṭāpraharaṇāstathā nirāśrayā nāma gaṇāḥ samāyātā jagadguro

Translation

Прибыли ганы, именуемые «Нирашрая» (Nirāśraya): небом одетые (digvāsa), соблюдающие молчание (mauna) и несущие колокола как оружие, — к Учителю мира (Jagadguru).

Speakers

• Narrator (Purāṇic narrator) describing the assembly to the listener (traditional frame: Pulastya to Nārada)

Primary Deities

• Shiva

Key Themes

• Gaṇa taxonomy and iconography
• Ascetic motifs (digambara, mauna)
• Śaiva devotional framing in the Andhaka cycle

Verse Rasa (Emotional Flavour)

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

FAQs

Who are the ‘Nirāśrayā’ gaṇas in this verse?

They are a named class of Śiva’s attendant hosts (gaṇas), characterized here by ascetic markers—sky-clad (digambara) and silent (maunī)—and by a distinctive ‘weapon’ (bells), indicating ritual/sonic power rather than conventional arms.

Why would bells be called ‘weapons’ (praharaṇa)?

In Purāṇic and tantric-Śaiva idiom, sound (nāda) and ritual instruments can function as apotropaic force—driving away obstacles, terrifying hostile beings, and marking divine presence—hence a bell can be poetically treated as a weapon.

Does this verse contain any tīrtha or geographic reference typical of the Vāmana Purāṇa?

No explicit river, lake, forest, or tīrtha is named in this śloka; it is primarily a catalog of divine retinues within the Andhaka narrative context.