Shloka 31

Prahlada's Instructions to Bali — Prahlada’s Instructions to Bali on Vishnu Worship, Monthly Gifts, and Building Hari’s Temple

Devanagari script

तिलास्तुरङ्गं वृषभं दधि ताम्रायसादिकम् प्रीत्यर्थं पद्मनाभस्य देयमाश्वयुजे नरैः

Transliteration

tilāsturaṅgaṃ vṛṣabhaṃ dadhi tāmrāyasādikam prītyarthaṃ padmanābhasya deyamāśvayuje naraiḥ

Translation

ആശ്വയുജ മാസത്തിൽ പദ്മനാഭന്റെ പ്രീതിക്കായി ജനങ്ങൾ എള്ള്, കുതിര, കാള, തൈര്, കൂടാതെ ചെമ്പ്-ഇരുമ്പ് മുതലായ വസ്തുക്കൾ ദാനം ചെയ്യണം।

Speakers

• Purāṇic prescriptive voice continuing the month-wise dāna list (speaker not specified in the provided excerpt).

Primary Deities

• Vishnu (Padmanābha)

Key Themes

• Dāna (Charity)
• Māsa-dāna (month-specific gifts)
• Merit through gifting livestock and valuables
• Vaiṣṇava devotional framing of dharma

Verse Rasa (Emotional Flavour)

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

FAQs

Why do horses and bulls appear among the recommended gifts?

In dharma literature, high-value gifts (livestock, metals) are markers of serious sacrificial charity and social responsibility. Horses and bulls also signify mobility, strength, and agrarian prosperity—resources redirected toward religious merit.

What does Padmanābha imply in a dāna context?

Padmanābha evokes Viṣṇu’s cosmic sovereignty and generative order (the lotus motif). The donor’s act is framed as participation in sustaining cosmic and social order (dharma) through regulated generosity.

Are ‘copper and iron’ meant literally or symbolically?

Primarily literal—useful, durable commodities in premodern economies. Secondarily, they signal a graded scale of gifts: from consumables (curd, sesame) to durable wealth (metals), broadening access while preserving hierarchy of merit.