Adhyaya 16

Verse 1

कथितो भवता वंशो मानवानां महामुने कारणं चास्य जगतो विष्णुर् एव सनातनः

O great sage, you have recounted to me the lineage of humankind; and you have declared that the eternal Viṣṇu alone is the cause of this entire world.

Verse 2

यत् त्व् एतद् भगवान् आह प्रह्लादं दैत्यसत्तमम् ददाह नाग्निर् नास्त्रैश् च क्षुण्णस् तत्याज जीवितम्

It was exactly as the Blessed Lord had declared: Prahlāda, noblest among the Daityas, could not be burned by fire nor struck down by weapons; and he who sought to destroy him, crushed by frustration, at last abandoned his life.

Verse 3

जगाम वसुधा क्षोभं यत्राब्धिसलिले स्थिते बन्धबद्धो ऽपि चलति विक्षिप्ताङ्गैः समाहता

Then the Earth was thrown into agitation; for in that oceanic expanse, even one held fast by bonds is made to heave and shift, struck and jolted as the limbs are violently tossed about.

Verse 4

शैलैर् आक्रान्तदेहो ऽपि न ममार च यः पुरा त्वयैवातीव माहात्म्यं कथितं यस्य धीमतः

He who, though his body was crushed beneath mountains, did not die—of that wise one, whose extraordinary greatness you yourself had formerly proclaimed.

Verse 5

तस्य प्रभावम् अतुलं विष्णोर् भक्तिमतो मुने श्रोतुम् इच्छामि यस्यैतच् चरितं त्व् अमितौजसः

O sage, I wish to hear of the incomparable spiritual power of that devotee of Lord Viṣṇu—he whose life-story you, of boundless splendor, have begun to relate.

Verse 6

किंनिमित्तम् असौ शस्त्रैर् विक्षतो दितिजैर् मुने किमर्थं चाब्धिसलिले निक्षिप्तो धर्मतत्परः

O sage, for what cause was this righteous one, devoted to dharma, wounded by the Daityas’ weapons? And why was he cast into the waters of the ocean?

Verse 7

आक्रान्तः पर्वतैः कस्मात् कस्माद् दष्टो महोरगैः क्षिप्तः किम् अद्रिशिखरात् किं वा पावकसंचये

By whom were you crushed beneath mountains? By whom were you bitten by mighty serpents? Were you hurled from a mountain peak—or cast into a heap of fire?

Verse 8

दिग्दन्तिनां दन्तभूमिः स च कस्मान् निरूपितः संशोषको ऽनिलश् चास्य प्रयुक्तः किं महासुरैः

Why was the ‘tooth-ground’ allotted to the elephants of the directions, and for what purpose was the drying wind set in motion? By what design did the great Asuras employ this?

Verse 9

कृत्यां च दैत्यगुरवो युयुजुस् ते तु किं मुने शम्बरश् चापि मायानां सहस्रं किं प्रयुक्तवान्

O sage, did the Daityas’ preceptors also unleash a kṛtyā, a destructive fiend born of rite? And tell me—did Śambara, too, employ a thousand stratagems of māyā?

Verse 10

हालाहलं विषं घोरं दैत्यसूदैर् महात्मनः कस्माद् दत्तं विनाशाय यज् जीर्णं तेन धीमता

That dreadful poison, Hālāhala—why did the slayers of the Daityas offer it to the great-souled one as though for his destruction, when that wise Lord swallowed it and digested it?

Verse 11

एतत् सर्वं महाभाग प्रह्लादस्य महात्मनः चरितं श्रोतुम् इच्छामि महामाहात्म्यसूचकम्

O greatly fortunate one, I wish to hear in full the sacred life-story of the great-souled Prahlāda—an account that reveals extraordinary spiritual greatness.

Verse 12

न हि कौतूहलं तत्र यद् दैत्यैर् न हतो हि सः अनन्यमनसो विष्णौ कः समर्थो निपातने

There is nothing surprising in this—that he was not slain by the Daityas. For one whose mind is single-pointedly fixed on Vishnu, who indeed has the power to cast him down?

Verse 13

तस्मिन् धर्मपरे नित्यं केशवाराधनोद्यते स्ववंशप्रभवैर् दैत्यैः कर्तुं द्वेषो ऽतिदुष्करः

Since he was ever established in dharma and constantly intent on the worship of Keśava, even the Daityas born from his own lineage found it exceedingly difficult to sustain hatred against him.

Verse 14

धर्मात्मनि महाभागे विष्णुभक्ते विमत्सरे दैतेयैः प्रहृतं कस्मात् तन् ममाख्यातुम् अर्हसि

Why was that great-souled one—righteous in nature, devoted to Lord Viṣṇu, and free from envy—struck down by the Daityas? You should tell me this in full.

Verse 15

प्रहरन्ति महात्मानो विपक्षे चापि नेदृशे गुणैः समन्विते साधौ किं पुनर् यः स्वपक्षजः

Great-souled men do not strike even an opponent when he is a person of such character—endowed with virtues and truly righteous; how much less, then, would they harm one who belongs to their own side?

Verse 16

तद् एतत् कथ्यतां सर्वं विस्तरान् मुनिसत्तम दैत्येश्वरस्य चरितं श्रोतुम् इच्छाम्य् अशेषतः

Therefore, O best of sages, recount all this to me in full detail. I wish to hear, without remainder, the entire account of the Daitya-lord—his deeds and the course of his life.