Shloka 120

Matsya Purana — The Slaying of Jambha and the Rise of Tāraka: Divine Battle Formations

Devanagari script

ततो ऽस्य विविशुर्वक्त्रं समहारथकुञ्जरा सुरसेनाविशद्भीमं पातालोत्तानतालुकम् //

Transliteration

tato 'sya viviśurvaktraṃ samahārathakuñjarā surasenāviśadbhīmaṃ pātālottānatālukam //

Translation

Then the army of the gods—together with chariots and elephants—rushed into his mouth, dreadful and gaping, whose palate seemed uplifted like the very vault of the netherworld.

Word by Word

• tataḥ: then

• asya: of him / his

• viviśuḥ: entered, rushed in

• vaktram: mouth

• sa-mahā-ratha-kuñjarā: along with great chariots and elephants

• sura-senā: the army of the gods

• viśat: entering

• bhīmam: terrifying, dreadful

• pātāla: netherworld

• uttāna: upturned, lifted up, wide-open

• tālukam: palate (roof of the mouth)

Speaker

• Suta (narrator) or the ongoing Purāṇic narrator describing the scene (battle narrative voice)

Entities Mentioned

• Sura-sena (army of the gods)
• Ratha (chariots)
• Kuñjara (elephants)
• Pātāla (netherworld)

Tags

• Battle narrative
• Cosmic imagery
• Demonology
• Epic simile
• Puranic warfare

FAQs

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

This verse is not a pralaya-teaching directly; it uses cosmological imagery (Pātāla) as a simile to convey the vast, terrifying scale of a gaping mouth in a battle episode.

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

Indirectly, it reinforces the Purāṇic ethic that adharma manifests as overwhelming, destructive force, while the sura-senā’s collective action models disciplined resistance—an ideal echoed in kingly duty to protect order.

What is the architectural or ritual significance mentioned here?

No explicit Vāstu or ritual rule appears here; the significance is poetic-cosmological—invoking Pātāla to intensify the scene, a common Purāṇic technique for conveying magnitude.