Vamana Purana — Bali's Sudarshana Worship, Shloka 6

Bali’s Worship of Sudarshana and Prahlada’s Teaching on Vishnu-Bhakti

Devanagari script

चक्रे प्रविष्टे पातालं दानवानां पुरे महान् बभै हलहलाशब्दः क्षुभितार्णवसंनिभः

Transliteration

cakre praviṣṭe pātālaṃ dānavānāṃ pure mahān babhai halahalāśabdaḥ kṣubhitārṇavasaṃnibhaḥ

Translation

When the Disc (cakra) entered Pātāla, into the great city of the Dānavas, there arose a tremendous “halahalā” roar, like the sound of an ocean churned into turmoil.

Speakers

• Narrator voice (epic-purāṇic narration) describing events to the listening interlocutor(s) of the Vāmana–Bali cycle

Primary Deities

• Vishnu

Key Themes

• Divine sovereignty (cakra as cosmic authority)
• Asura realm and cosmic geography (Pātāla)
• Omens and portents (tumult like a churned ocean)
• Vāmana–Bali narrative tension

Verse Rasa (Emotional Flavour)

{ "primaryRasa": "raudra", "secondaryRasa": "bhayanaka", "rasaIntensity": 0, "emotionalArcPosition": "", "moodDescriptors": [] }

FAQs

Why is the sound compared to a ‘churned ocean’ (kṣubhitārṇava)?

The simile conveys scale and cosmic disturbance: the cakra’s entry is not a local event but a world-shaking intrusion into the nether realms, echoing the Purāṇic motif that divine interventions ripple through all lokas.

Does ‘halahalā-śabda’ mean the poison hālāhala?

Here it primarily denotes a loud, chaotic roar (onomatopoetic tumult). However, the phonetic proximity to ‘hālāhala’ can intentionally evoke the dread and crisis associated with cosmic churning, intensifying the ominous tone.

What does this verse contribute to Vāmana Purāṇa’s geographic character?

It situates the action explicitly in Pātāla and in an Asura capital, reinforcing the Purāṇic vertical geography (upper worlds–earth–netherworlds) that frames tīrtha and cosmological narratives.