Shloka 30

Prahlada at Kurukshetra — Prahlada’s Kurukshetra Pilgrimage and the Origin of the Chakra–Trishula Exchange

Devanagari script

एवं त्रिशुलं च दधार विष्णुश्चक्रं त्रिनेत्रो ऽप्यरिसूदनार्थम् यत्राघहन्त्री ह्यभवद् वितस्ता हराङ्घ्रिपाताच्छिशिराचलात्तु

Transliteration

evaṃ triśulaṃ ca dadhāra viṣṇuścakraṃ trinetro 'pyarisūdanārtham yatrāghahantrī hyabhavad vitastā harāṅghripātācchiśirācalāttu

Translation

ഇങ്ങനെ വിഷ്ണു ത്രിശൂലം ധരിച്ചു; ത്രിനേത്രൻ (ശിവൻ) ശത്രുനാശാർത്ഥം ചക്രം സ്വീകരിച്ചു. അവിടെ ഹിമവാന്റെ ശിശിരാചലത്തിൽ ഹരന്റെ പാദപാതത്തിൽ നിന്നു ഉദ്ഭവിച്ച വിതസ്താ പാപഹന്ത്രിയായി ഭവിച്ചു.

Speakers

• Narratorial voice within the Purāṇic dialogue (recension-dependent frame; commonly a sage narrates a tīrtha account to another sage).

Primary Deities

• Vishnu
• Shiva (Hara, Trinetra)

Key Themes

• Tirtha Mahima
• River-origin myth (nadī-prādurbhāva)
• Sin-destruction through sacred waters
• Hari–Hara reciprocity (exchange of emblems)
• Divine intervention in cosmic conflict

Verse Rasa (Emotional Flavour)

{ "primaryRasa": "adbhuta", "secondaryRasa": "vira", "rasaIntensity": 0, "emotionalArcPosition": "", "moodDescriptors": [] }

FAQs

Why does the verse depict Viṣṇu holding the trident and Śiva holding the discus?

It signals Hari–Hara non-duality and cooperative action: each deity assumes the other’s emblem to emphasize shared sovereignty in protecting the cosmos and defeating hostile forces. In tīrtha contexts, such iconographic ‘exchange’ also sacralizes the landscape by linking it to both traditions.

What is the geographical claim about Vitastā here?

The verse presents Vitastā as a sin-destroying river whose manifestation is tied to Himavat: it ‘became’ (abhavat) from the impact of Hara’s foot on the snowy mountain, a typical Purāṇic etiological motif explaining a river’s sanctity and source.

How should ‘harāṅghripātāt’ be understood—literal footprint or symbolic causation?

Purāṇic geography often uses a theophanic ‘contact’ (sparśa) motif: a deity’s footfall/strike opens a spring or channels waters. It can be read literally as a mythic event and symbolically as the consecration of a watershed by Śiva’s presence.