Vamana Purana — Prahlada vs Nara-Narayana, Shloka 57
Prahlada’s Defeat by Nara-Narayana and Victory through Bhakti
सप्तर्षिमुख्यो द्विचतुश्च दैत्यो नरस्तु षट् त्रीणि च दैत्यमुख्ये षट्त्रीणि चैकं च दितीश्वरेण मुक्तानि बाणानि नराय विप्र
saptarṣimukhyo dvicatuśca daityo narastu ṣaṭ trīṇi ca daityamukhye ṣaṭtrīṇi caikaṃ ca ditīśvareṇa muktāni bāṇāni narāya vipra
Hỡi Bà-la-môn, vị tối thượng trong bảy Ṛṣi đã bắn tên; phía Daitya bắn hai và bốn; còn Nara bắn sáu và ba mũi vào thủ lĩnh Daitya. Và chúa tể dòng dõi Diti đã phóng vào Nara những mũi tên—sáu, ba và một.
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FAQs
By addressing a ‘vipra’ and invoking ‘saptarṣi-mukhya’, the text frames even violent conflict within a moral-auditory setting: warfare is narrated for discernment (viveka) and instruction, not mere spectacle. The implied lesson is that power must remain accountable to higher wisdom (ṛṣi/śruti-aligned oversight).
Again, this is Carita/Vaṃśānucarita-oriented material—heroic action sequences embedded in the Purāṇic historical-mythic narration, not a direct sarga/pratisarga or manvantara catalogue.
The appearance of ‘saptarṣi-mukhya’ amidst arrow-counting can signal that cosmic order (ṛta/dharma, guarded by sages) remains the silent measure behind worldly contests. The repeated numeric patterns underscore that conflict follows intelligible order, not randomness—suggesting a dharmic ‘grammar’ even in battle.