Vamana Purana — Nara-Narayana's Tapas, Shloka 64
Nara-Narayana’s Tapas, Indra’s Temptation, and the Burning of Kama: The Origin of Ananga and the Shiva-Linga Episode
त्यक्त्वाश्रमणि शून्यानि स्वानिता मुनियोषितः अनुडजग्मुर्यथा मत्तं करिण्य इव कुञ्जरम्
tyaktvāśramaṇi śūnyāni svānitā muniyoṣitaḥ anuḍajagmuryathā mattaṃ kariṇya iva kuñjaram
ఇప్పటికే శూన్యమైన తమ ఆశ్రమాలను వదిలి, ఆ మునిపత్నులు అతని వెనుక వెనుక వెళ్లారు; మత్తులో ఉన్న గజరాజాన్ని ఏనుగుతల్లులు అనుసరించునట్లు.
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FAQs
The verse highlights the disruptive force of desire (kāma) even in ascetic settings: when the focal object of fascination departs, the āśrama becomes ‘empty’ in both a literal and symbolic sense, warning that spiritual life collapses when attention is carried away from dharma and self-restraint.
Primarily within Vamśānucarita/Carita-type narrative material (didactic-illustrative episode about a deity and sages), rather than cosmogenesis (sarga/pratisarga). It functions as an exemplary story embedded in the Purāṇic discourse.
The elephant simile encodes overpowering attraction and loss of discrimination; ‘empty hermitages’ suggests that external renunciation without inner steadiness is fragile. The episode sets up the sages’ reaction (v.65) and the dramatic divine response (v.66).