Shloka 14
Indra's Campaign on Mount Malaya — Indra’s Campaign on Mount Malaya and the Birth of the Maruts (Origin of the Epithet Gotrabhid)
तत्र नाम विभुर्लोभे शासनत्वात् शरैर्दृढैः पाकशासनतां शक्रः सर्वामरपतिर्विभुः
tatra nāma vibhurlobhe śāsanatvāt śarairdṛḍhaiḥ pākaśāsanatāṃ śakraḥ sarvāmarapatirvibhuḥ
[{"question": "Why is Indra called ‘Purandara’ here?", "answer": "The verse supplies an implicit nirukti: by ‘splitting/piercing’ (dārayāmāsa) the enemy associated with ‘pura’ (fort/city; also the proper name Pura), Indra is styled Purandara—‘he who breaks forts/cities’—a standard epithet reinforced by this specific exploit."}, {"question": "Is ‘Pura’ a place (city) or a person in this verse?", "answer": "Grammatically it is a person: puranāmānam (‘named Pura’) and bāṇāsurasutam (‘son of Bāṇāsura’) identify an individual warrior. The word simultaneously evokes ‘pura’ (fort/city), enabling the epithet Purandara."}, {"question": "What does ‘supuṅkhaiḥ śaraiḥ’ emphasize in epic-style battle description?", "answer": "It highlights the quality and lethality of the missiles—arrows with excellent fletching fly true and strike with force—an idiom common in Purāṇic/Itihāsa battle narration to mark decisive, skillful archery."}]
{ "primaryRasa": "adbhuta", "secondaryRasa": "vira", "rasaIntensity": 0, "emotionalArcPosition": "", "moodDescriptors": [] }
FAQs
It pauses the action to provide nirukti—an explanatory etymology—linking a well-known epithet of Indra (‘Pākaśāsana’) to a specific punitive act against a named adversary, Pāka.
Grammatically and contextually it characterizes the adversarial figure (Pāka) as associated with greed, reinforcing the moral contrast: the deva’s ‘discipline’ subdues a greed-driven opponent.
They serve mnemonic and theological purposes: epithets become anchored in narrative deeds, making divine names meaningful as summaries of cosmic functions (here, Indra as the punisher/subduer of disruptive forces).