Vamana Purana — Nara-Narayana's Tapas, Shloka 96

Nara-Narayana’s Tapas, Indra’s Temptation, and the Burning of Kama: The Origin of Ananga and the Shiva-Linga Episode

Devanagari script

आलोकितस्त्रिनेत्रेण मदनो द्युतिमानपि प्रादह्यत तदा ब्रह्मन् पादादारभ्य कक्षवत्

Transliteration

ālokitastrinetreṇa madano dyutimānapi prādahyata tadā brahman pādādārabhya kakṣavat

Translation

ఓ బ్రహ్మన్! త్రినేత్రుడి (శివుని) దృష్టి పడగానే, ద్యుతిమంతుడైన మదనుడు కూడా అప్పుడు పాదాల నుండి ప్రారంభమై, ఎండిన కట్టెలా దహించబడ్డాడు.

Word by Word

• ālokitaḥ: having been looked at
• ālokitaḥ: Karta (कर्ता/Subject; predicate participle)
• Type: Verb
• Root: ā-√lok (धातु) + kta (कृत्)
• Form: क्त-प्रत्ययान्त कृदन्त (past passive participle); पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचन

• trinetreṇa: by the three-eyed (Śiva)
• trinetreṇa: Karana (करण/Instrument)
• Type: Noun
• Root: tri-netra (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, तृतीया, एकवचन; करण (by the three-eyed one / by the three eyes)

• madanaḥ: Madana (Kāma)
• madanaḥ: Karta (कर्ता/Subject)
• Type: Noun
• Root: madana (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचन

• dyutimān: radiant
• dyutimān: Karta (कर्ता/Subject; qualifier)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: dyutimat (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचन; विशेषण

• api: even
• api: Sambandha (सम्बन्ध/particle)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: api (अव्यय)
• Form: अपि-कार अव्यय (even/also)

• prādahyata: was burnt
• prādahyata: Kriya (क्रिया/Finite verb)
• Type: Verb
• Root: pra-√dah (धातु)
• Form: लङ् (Imperfect/Past), प्रथमपुरुष, एकवचन; आत्मनेपद/कर्मणि-प्रयोग (was burnt)

• tadā: then
• tadā: Kala (काल/Time)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: tadā (अव्यय)
• Form: कालवाचक अव्यय

• brahman: O Brahmin (O sage)
• brahman: Sambodhana (सम्बोधन/Vocative)
• Type: Noun
• Root: brahman (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, सम्बोधन (Vocative), एकवचन

• pādāt: from the foot
• pādāt: Apadana (अपादान/Starting point)
• Type: Noun
• Root: pāda (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, पञ्चमी (5th/Ablative), एकवचन; आरम्भ (starting from)

• ārabhya: starting from
• ārabhya: Sambandha (सम्बन्ध/Adverbial)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: ā-√rabh (धातु) + lyap (ल्यप्)
• Form: ल्यप्-प्रत्ययान्त अव्ययकृदन्त (gerundial indeclinable) ‘starting from’

• kakṣavat: like kindling/like dry grass
• kakṣavat: Sambandha (सम्बन्ध/Simile)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: kakṣāvat (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: उपमानवाचक अव्यय/तद्धितान्त अव्ययप्राय (like a dry grass/like kindling; ‘-वत्’ as comparative)

Speakers

• Unspecified in the provided excerpt (likely within Pulastya–Nārada narrative frame typical of the Purāṇa)

Primary Deities

• Shiva
• Kama (Madana)

Key Themes

• Shaivism
• Tapas (ascetic power)
• Control of desire
• Divine wrath and purification

Verse Rasa (Emotional Flavour)

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

FAQs

What is the philosophical or ethical takeaway?

Desire (kāma), even when attractive and radiant, is powerless before concentrated ascetic insight; the verse underscores mastery of senses and the primacy of tapas over impulse.

How does this fit the Pancalakshana?

Primarily within Vamśānucarita/Carita-type narrative material (accounts of divine deeds) rather than cosmogenesis; it is an episode illustrating a deity’s act and its consequences.

What is the symbolic significance?

Śiva’s gaze represents discriminative, consuming knowledge (jñāna-agni) that burns desire at its root—‘from the feet upward’—signifying total eradication rather than partial restraint.