Vamana Purana — Andhaka's Coronation, Shloka 36

Andhaka’s Coronation, Boons from Shiva, and the Daiva–Asura War (Vahana Catalogues)

Devanagari script

शोणितोदा रथावर्त्ता योधसंघट्टवाहिनी गजकुम्भमाहकूर्मा शरमीना दुरत्यया

Transliteration

śoṇitodā rathāvarttā yodhasaṃghaṭṭavāhinī gajakumbhamāhakūrmā śaramīnā duratyayā

Translation

其水皆为鲜血；其旋涡如战车；其激流乃众勇士群聚冲撞之势。象之额颞如巨龟；箭矢为鱼——此河难以渡越。

Word by Word

• शोणित-उदा: having blood as water
• शोणित-उदा: Karta-viśeṣaṇa (कर्तृ-विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: शोणित (प्रातिपदिक) + उद (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: तत्पुरुष-समास (शोणितम् उदकं यस्याः/यत्र); स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचन; नदी-विशेषण

• रथ-आवर्त्ता: with chariots as whirlpools
• रथ-आवर्त्ता: Karta-viśeṣaṇa (कर्तृ-विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: रथ (प्रातिपदिक) + आवर्त (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: तत्पुरुष-समास; स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचन; ‘with chariots as whirlpools’

• योध-संघट्ट-वाहिनी: carrying the collisions of warriors (as its current)
• योध-संघट्ट-वाहिनी: Karta-viśeṣaṇa (कर्तृ-विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: योध (प्रातिपदिक) + संघट्ट (प्रातिपदिक) + वाहिनी (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: तत्पुरुष-समास; स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचन; नदी-विशेषण

• गज-कुम्भ-माह-कूर्मा: with elephant temples as huge turtles
• गज-कुम्भ-माह-कूर्मा: Karta-viśeṣaṇa (कर्तृ-विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: गज (प्रातिपदिक) + कुम्भ (प्रातिपदिक) + माह (प्रातिपदिक) + कूर्म (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: बहुपद-तत्पुरुष-समास; स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचन; नदी-विशेषण; ‘with elephant-temples as great turtles’ (माह=महान् इत्यर्थे)

• शर-मीना: with arrows as fish
• शर-मीना: Karta-viśeṣaṇa (कर्तृ-विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: शर (प्रातिपदिक) + मीन (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: तत्पुरुष-समास; स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचन; नदी-विशेषण

• दुरत्यया: hard to cross
• दुरत्यया: Karta-viśeṣaṇa (कर्तृ-विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: दुर् (उपसर्ग) + अति-इ (धातु) + खल्/यत् (प्रत्यय)
• Form: कृदन्त (दुरत्यय ‘hard to cross’); स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचन; नदी-विशेषण

Speakers

• Pulastya to Nārada (typical frame; not explicitly stated in input)

Key Themes

• Daitya-Deva Conflict
• Poetic battle description
• Alankāra (extended metaphor)

Verse Rasa (Emotional Flavour)

{ "primaryRasa": "bhayanaka", "secondaryRasa": "bibhatsa", "rasaIntensity": 0, "emotionalArcPosition": "", "moodDescriptors": [] }

FAQs

What is the philosophical or ethical takeaway?

By aestheticizing violence into a ‘river,’ the text simultaneously conveys grandeur and horror; it cautions that warfare creates a self-sustaining current of harm that becomes ‘uncrossable’ once unleashed.

How does this fit the Pancalakshana?

It is episodic narrative material aligned with Vamśānucarita/Manvantara-associated Deva–Asura struggles (a common Purāṇic narrative layer), not cosmological sarga/pratisarga.

What is the symbolic significance?

The ‘river of blood’ is a dharmic inversion of sacred rivers: instead of purifying, it embodies adharma’s consequences; martial objects become aquatic life, suggesting violence naturalized into an ecosystem.