Shloka 4

Matsya Purana — The Battle for Tripura: Portents

Devanagari script

हरः प्राप्त इतीवोक्त्वा बलिनस्ते महासुराः आजग्मुः परमं क्षोभम् अत्ययेष्विव सागराः //

Transliteration

haraḥ prāpta itīvoktvā balinaste mahāsurāḥ ājagmuḥ paramaṃ kṣobham atyayeṣviva sāgarāḥ //

Translation

Saying, as it were, “Hara (Śiva) has arrived!”, those mighty great Asuras were seized by extreme agitation—like the oceans when the time of upheaval has come.

Word by Word

• हरः (Haraḥ): Hara, Śiva

• प्राप्तः (prāptaḥ): arrived, has come

• इति (iti): thus

• इव (iva): as if

• उक्त्वा (uktvā): having said

• बलिनः (balinaḥ): powerful, mighty

• ते (te): those

• महासुराः (mahāsurāḥ): great Asuras/demons

• आजग्मुः (ājagmuḥ): reached, came to (a state of)

• परमम् (paramam): highest, extreme

• क्षोभम् (kṣobham): agitation, turmoil

• अत्ययेषु (atyayeṣu): at times of crisis/overturning, at the end-time

• इव (iva): like

• सागराः (sāgarāḥ): oceans, seas

Speaker

• Suta (narrator) describing the Asuras’ reaction within the Matsya Purana narrative

Entities Mentioned

• Hara (Shiva)
• Mahasuras (Asuras)

Tags

• Pralaya
• Cosmic upheaval imagery
• Shaiva reference
• Asuras
• Puranic conflict

FAQs

What does this verse reveal about the creation or dissolution (Pralaya)?

It uses Pralaya-like imagery—oceans churning at a catastrophic “end-time”—to convey the Asuras’ violent inner upheaval, linking emotional turmoil to cosmic dissolution symbolism.

How does this verse relate to the duties of a King or Householder?

Indirectly, it functions as an ethical warning: uncontrolled kṣobha (agitation) leads to disorder; the king/householder is urged elsewhere in the Matsya Purana to cultivate steadiness and restraint to prevent social ‘ocean-like’ upheaval.

What is the architectural or ritual significance mentioned here?

No direct Vāstu or ritual rule appears; the verse is primarily poetic and cosmological, using the ocean-at-crisis simile rather than prescribing temple-building or rite procedures.