Vamana Purana — Harihara Non-Duality, Shloka 14

Harihara Non-Duality and the Revelation of Sadasiva to the Ganas

Devanagari script

दिग्वाससो मौनिनश्च घण्टाप्रहरणास्तथा निराश्रया नाम गणाः समायाता जगद्गुरो

Transliteration

digvāsaso mauninaśca ghaṇṭāpraharaṇāstathā nirāśrayā nāma gaṇāḥ samāyātā jagadguro

Translation

名为“尼罗阿湿罗耶”（Nirāśraya）的伽那前来——以天为衣（digvāsa），守持默然（mauna），并以铃为兵器——来到世界之师（Jagadguru）之前。

Speakers

• Narrator (Purāṇic narrator) describing the assembly to the listener (traditional frame: Pulastya to Nārada)

Primary Deities

• Shiva

Key Themes

• Gaṇa taxonomy and iconography
• Ascetic motifs (digambara, mauna)
• Śaiva devotional framing in the Andhaka cycle

Verse Rasa (Emotional Flavour)

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

FAQs

Who are the ‘Nirāśrayā’ gaṇas in this verse?

They are a named class of Śiva’s attendant hosts (gaṇas), characterized here by ascetic markers—sky-clad (digambara) and silent (maunī)—and by a distinctive ‘weapon’ (bells), indicating ritual/sonic power rather than conventional arms.

Why would bells be called ‘weapons’ (praharaṇa)?

In Purāṇic and tantric-Śaiva idiom, sound (nāda) and ritual instruments can function as apotropaic force—driving away obstacles, terrifying hostile beings, and marking divine presence—hence a bell can be poetically treated as a weapon.

Does this verse contain any tīrtha or geographic reference typical of the Vāmana Purāṇa?

No explicit river, lake, forest, or tīrtha is named in this śloka; it is primarily a catalog of divine retinues within the Andhaka narrative context.