Bali’s Stotra to Sudarśana Cakra

Bali’s Stotra to the Sudarśana Cakra is the hymn that King Bali sang when the Sudarśana Cakra of Bhagavān Vishṇu came to Sutala and filled the realm of the daityas with a mighty sound. Vindhyāvalī advised him to put down his sword and go to the Cakra with the arghya vessel (the vessel of offering water). The episode and the stotra are in Chapter 67 of the Vāmana Mahā Purāṇa.

The stotra praises the Sudarśana as made up of Brahmā, Bhagavān Śiva, the Ādityas, Indra and the devas, and the five elements. Bali asks the Cakra to burn away his pāpa (sin) and destroy his afflictions.

The setting

Bali went down to Sutala with Vindhyāvalī. There he built a crystal city with courtyards set with jewels. He lived in it and enjoyed many pleasures, divine and human.

One day the Sudarśana Cakra came down into Sutala. Its arrival filled the city of the rākshasas with a roar like the churning of the ocean. All the daityas were terrified, and Bali drew his sword in alarm.

Vindhyāvalī calmed him at once. She said: “Put your sword away. This sound is from the Sudarśana of Bhagavān Vāmana, the Cakra that destroys daityas. It is worthy of our worship.” She took up the arghya vessel and went with Bali to meet the Cakra.

The stotra

Bali joined his palms with bhakti (devotion), worshipped the Sudarśana and spoke:

I bow to the cakra of Śrī Hari, the destroyer of daitya-cakras.
I bow to the sacred Vishṇu-cakra, blazing with a thousand rays and a thousand edges.

Then he described what the Sudarśana is made of:

  • In its nābhi (hub) is Brahmā.
  • At its mukha (face or rim) is Śūlapāṇi Śaṅkara (Bhagavān Śiva, bearer of the trident).
  • At the bases of its spokes are the host of devas, including Indra, Āditya and Agni.
  • Its speed is made of vāyu, jala, anala (fire), pṛthivī and ākāśa, the five elements.
  • It is apratihatam (nothing can stop it).
  • On either side of its spokes are clouds, lightning, and the graha-tārakāḥ (planets and stars).
  • At its edge the Vālakhilya ṛshis stand in attendance.

Then he prayed:

O Sudarśana! O Cakrarāja! Master of Vishṇu’s weapons! With your agni-śikhās (flames) burn all the heap of pāpa (pāpa-samūha) I have gathered through body, speech and mind. Destroy all the pāpa of my ancestors, from both my mother’s and my father’s line. O weapon of Acyuta! May my ādhi (mental afflictions) and vyādhi (bodily diseases) be destroyed. By speaking your sacred name may all my duritas (wrongs) be destroyed. A hundred times my bows to you!

What came after

The Sudarśana accepted Bali’s stotra and pūjā. It drained all the daityas of their tejas (power). On the dakshiṇa-vishuvat (the southern solstice) it left Sutala and went away.

Then Bali remembered his grandfather Prahlāda, and Prahlāda appeared at once in Sutala. This leads straight into Prahlāda’s long teaching (upadeśa) to Bali on vishṇu-bhakti (devotion to Bhagavān Vishṇu), in the same chapter.

Sources

  • Vāmana Mahā Purāṇa, Chapter 67