Vamana Purana — Prahlada vs Nara-Narayana, Shloka 21
Prahlada’s Defeat by Nara-Narayana and Victory through Bhakti
एताद्शं हि चरितं ख्यातिमग्र्यां जगाम ह पातालेषु तथा मर्त्यै दिक्ष्वष्टासु जगाम च
etādśaṃ hi caritaṃ khyātimagryāṃ jagāma ha pātāleṣu tathā martyai dikṣvaṣṭāsu jagāma ca
નિશ્ચયે આવું ચરિત સર્વોત્તમ ખ્યાતિને પામ્યું; તે પાતાળોમાં, મર્ત્યોમાં અને આઠેય દિશાઓમાં સર્વત્ર પ્રસરી ગયું।
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FAQs
Actions (carita) generate consequences not only privately but socially and cosmically—reputation becomes a force that travels and shapes future responses. Purāṇic ethics often treats kīrti as a secondary ‘fruit’ of dharma (or adharma), encouraging responsibility for one’s deeds.
Still best classified under Vamśānucarita/ākhyāna (narrative of deeds), not sarga/pratisarga. The verse functions as a ‘phala-śruti’-like amplification of the deed’s significance via universal fame.
The spread to Pātāla, the mortal realm, and the eight directions symbolizes total pervasion—no realm is untouched by the moral and narrative weight of significant acts. It also serves as a literary marker that the episode has archetypal importance.