Virocana in the Vana Parva

Virocana is a daiteya, a son of the daityas. He is named in the Vana Parva of the Mahābhārata, in the passage on the divine weapons. He is the son of Prahlāda and the father of Bali Cakravartī. This puts him in the main line of the great asura family that runs from Hiraṇyakaśipu through Prahlāda and Virocana to Bali.

His family

Virocana is the son of Prahlāda. Prahlāda was the greatest devotee of Vishṇu, though he was born among the asuras. Virocana is the father of Bali Cakravartī. Bali was a righteous asura king, and he gave the three worlds to Bhagavān Vāmana.

In the Vana Parva

Chapter 41 of the Vana Parva names Virocana in its account of the divine weapons. In that passage, Varuṇa gave Arjuna the Vāruṇa pāśas (nooses). The text says these had been used in the Tārakāmaya war. That was the great battle between the devas and the asuras in the earliest time. The Vana Parva does not tell much more about Virocana himself.

Sources

• Mahābhārata, Vana Parva, Chapter 41