Vamana Purana — Prahlada vs Nara-Narayana, Shloka 9

Defeat and Victory through Bhakti

Devanagari script

रोमावलीच जघनाद् यान्ती स्तनतटं त्वियम् राजते भृङ्गमालेव पुलिनात् कमलाकरम्

Transliteration

romāvalīca jaghanād yāntī stanataṭaṃ tviyam rājate bhṛṅgamāleva pulināt kamalākaram

Translation

而那道毛线自她的胯际上升，趋向乳峰的斜坡，光彩分明，宛如蜂群之花环从沙洲飞向满布莲华的湖泊。

Word by Word

• romāvalī: the line of hair
• romāvalī: Karta (कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: romāvalī (प्रातिपदik)
• Form: Strīliṅga (f.), Prathamā-vibhakti (Nom. 1), Ekavacana (sg.)

• ca: and
• ca: Samuccaya (समुच्चय)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: ca (अव्यय)
• Form: Samuccaya-avyaya (conjunction)

• jaghanāt: from the hips / buttocks
• jaghanāt: Apādāna (अपादान)
• Type: Noun
• Root: jaghana (प्रातिपदik)
• Form: Napुंसakaliṅga (n.), Pañcamī-vibhakti (Abl. 5), Ekavacana (sg.)

• yāntī: going / extending
• yāntī: Karta (कर्ता)
• Type: Verb
• Root: yā (धातु)
• Form: Vartamāna-kṛdanta (शतृ/शानच् type), Strīliṅga (f.), Prathamā-vibhakti (Nom. 1), Ekavacana (sg.)

• stana-taṭam: the slope/region of the breasts
• stana-taṭam: Karma (कर्म; destination)
• Type: Noun
• Root: stana + taṭa (प्रातिपदik)
• Form: Puṃliṅga (m.)/Napुंसaka (n.) usage; here Puṃliṅga (m.), Dvitīyā-vibhakti (Acc. 2), Ekavacana (sg.)

• tu: indeed / but
• tu: Sambandha-bodhaka (सम्बन्ध/विरोध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: tu (अव्यय)
• Form: Nipāta (particle; contrast/emphasis)

• iyam: this (line)
• iyam: Karta (कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: idam (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदik)
• Form: Strīliṅga (f.), Prathamā-vibhakti (Nom. 1), Ekavacana (sg.)

• rājate: shines
• rājate: Kriyā (क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: rāj (धातु)
• Form: Laṭ-lakāra (Present), Prathama-puruṣa (3rd), Ekavacana (sg.), Ātmanepada

• bhṛṅga-mālā: a garland of bees
• bhṛṅga-mālā: Upamāna (उपमान)
• Type: Noun
• Root: bhṛṅga + mālā (प्रातिपदik)
• Form: Strīliṅga (f.), Prathamā-vibhakti (Nom. 1), Ekavacana (sg.)

• iva: like
• iva: Upamā (उपमा)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: iva (अव्यय)
• Form: Upamā-avyaya (particle of comparison)

• pulināt: from the sandbank / riverbank
• pulināt: Apādāna (अपादान)
• Type: Noun
• Root: pulina (प्रातिपदik)
• Form: Napुंसakaliṅga (n.), Pañcamī-vibhakti (Abl. 5), Ekavacana (sg.)

• kamalākaram: a lotus-bed / lotus-lake
• kamalākaram: Karma (कर्म; destination)
• Type: Noun
• Root: kamala + ākara (प्रातिपदik)
• Form: Puṃliṅga (m.), Dvitīyā-vibhakti (Acc. 2), Ekavacana (sg.)

Speakers

• Not explicit in the provided excerpt (likely within Pulastya–Nārada narrative frame
• but not verifiable from these verses alone)

Key Themes

• Kāvya-style simile (upamā)
• Aṅga-varṇana
• Nature imagery (bees, lotus-lake)

Verse Rasa (Emotional Flavour)

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

FAQs

What is the philosophical or ethical takeaway?

The simile demonstrates how sensory beauty is narrated through nature’s patterns (bees and lotuses). In Purāṇic settings, such imagery often serves to heighten rasa (aesthetic mood) while the larger discourse ultimately reorients attention toward dharma and sacred purpose.

How does this fit the Pancalakshana?

It is not directly one of the pancalakṣaṇa categories; it is poetic description within an episode, best cataloged as narrative embellishment (kathā-aṅga) rather than cosmology or genealogy.

What is the symbolic significance?

Bees drawn to lotuses is a conventional symbol of irresistible attraction. Here it symbolically maps the viewer’s gaze (or the described line’s upward course) onto a natural movement from ‘bank’ to ‘lotus-lake,’ intensifying the aesthetic focus without invoking a specific Hari-Hara or avatāra doctrine.