Matsya Purana — The Devasura War: Tumult, Shloka 16

Devanagari script

ततो ऽसृघ्रददुस्तारा पृथिवी समजायत नद्यश्च रुधिरावर्ता हर्षदाः पिशिताशिनाम् वेतालाक्रीडमभवत् तत्संकुलरणाजिरम् //

Transliteration

tato 'sṛghradadustārā pṛthivī samajāyata nadyaśca rudhirāvartā harṣadāḥ piśitāśinām vetālākrīḍamabhavat tatsaṃkularaṇājiram //

Translation

Alors la terre devint impraticable, comme remplie de lacs de sang ; et les rivières, tourbillonnant de sang, firent la joie des mangeurs de chair. Ce champ de bataille encombré devint un terrain de jeu pour les vetālas (esprits goules).

Word by Word

• tataḥ: then

• asṛk: blood

• hrada: lake/pond

• dustārā: hard to cross, impassable

• pṛthivī: earth

• samajāyata: became, came to be

• nadyaḥ: rivers

• ca: and

• rudhira: blood

• āvartāḥ: whirlpools, eddies, swirling currents

• harṣadāḥ: giving joy/delight

• piśitāśinām: of flesh-eaters (carnivores, demons, ghouls)

• vetāla: vetāla, ghoul-like spirit

• krīḍam: sport, plaything, playground

• abhavat: became

• tat: that

• saṃkula: crowded, congested, filled with

• raṇājiram: battlefield, field of combat.

Speaker

• Suta/Narrator (continuing the Matsya Purana’s descriptive narration in a Manu–Matsya framed discourse)

Entities Mentioned

• Vetala

Tags

• Pralaya
• Battlefield Omens
• Portents
• Asura-like Imagery
• Puranic Cosmology

FAQs

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

It uses pralaya-like imagery—blood-filled earth and rivers, and vetālas roaming—to depict extreme disorder and a collapse of normal dharmic order, a common Purāṇic marker of dissolution or catastrophic upheaval.

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

By portraying a world where violence overwhelms society and predatory beings rejoice, it implicitly underscores the king’s duty to restrain adharma and protect subjects, and the householder’s duty to avoid cruelty and uphold moral order that prevents such societal breakdown.

What is the architectural or ritual significance mentioned here?

No direct Vāstu or temple-ritual rule appears; the verse functions as a warning-image of inauspiciousness (aśubha-lakṣaṇa), useful in ritual contexts as a contrast to the purity and order required for yajña, consecration, and sacred building.