Vamana Purana — Bali's Sudarshana Worship, Shloka 61

Bali’s Worship of Sudarshana and Prahlada’s Teaching on Vishnu-Bhakti

Devanagari script

विष्टयो व्यतिपाताश्च ये ऽन्ये दुर्नीतिसम्भवाः ते नाम स्मरणाद्विष्णोर्नासं यान्ति महासुर

Transliteration

viṣṭayo vyatipātāśca ye 'nye durnītisambhavāḥ te nāma smaraṇādviṣṇornāsaṃ yānti mahāsura

Translation

‘Viṣṭi’ (inauspicious karaṇa), ‘Vyatipāta’ (inauspicious astronomical conjunction), and other (evils) born of misrule—these, O great Asura, are destroyed merely by the remembrance of Viṣṇu’s name.

Speakers

• Instructional voice addressing a ‘mahāsura’ (great Asura) within the chapter’s dialogue frame.

Primary Deities

• Vishnu

Key Themes

• Nāma-mahātmyam (power of the divine name)
• Removal of omens (doṣa-śānti)
• Pañcāṅga/astral inauspiciousness (karaṇa, yoga)
• Ethics and governance (durnīti)

Verse Rasa (Emotional Flavour)

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

FAQs

What are Viṣṭi and Vyatipāta, and why are they mentioned in a Purāṇa?

They are calendrical/astronomical markers in the pañcāṅga tradition regarded as inauspicious for initiating rites. Purāṇas often integrate such lived religious concerns and then subordinate them to bhakti—here, the remembrance of Viṣṇu’s name is said to override these impediments.

What does “durnīti-sambhavāḥ” add to the list of inauspicious factors?

It expands ‘inauspiciousness’ beyond astrology into the moral-political sphere: harms arising from misrule, corruption, or wrongful conduct. The verse thus links cosmic disorder and social disorder as obstacles removable by devotion.

Why is the addressee called “mahāsura”?

In Purāṇic diction it can be a literal address to an Asura interlocutor within the narrative frame, or a rhetorical mode of address emphasizing the magnitude of the listener’s condition; either way, it underscores that even powerful adverse forces are nullified by nāma-smaraṇa.