Vitala
Vitala · vi-tala
Vitala, printed also as Vītala, is one of the seven lokas below the earth (adholokas) named in the Brahma Parva of the Bhavishya Purāṇa. Sumantu Muni tells King Śatānīka of the lokas below the earth. The seven adholokas as first given are Tala, Sutala, Pātāla, Talātala, Atala, Vītala and Rasātala. They are also given in another order: Atala, Vitala, Sutala, Talātala, Rasātala, Mahātala and Pātāla.
The Brahma Purāṇa counts Vitala second among the pātālas, the lokas below the earth, each ten thousand yojanas in breadth, and tells that Mārkaṇḍeya Maharshi saw Vitala among the lower lokas within the belly of the divine child lying on the banyan leaf.
Per Brahma Purāṇa
Among the pātālas
Lomaharshaṇa tells the munis the measure of the pātālas. The breadth of the earth is seventy thousand yojanas, and its height the same. The breadth of each pātāla is ten thousand yojanas. The Purāṇa speaks of seven pātālas and names, in order, Atala, Vitala, Sutala, Talātala, Rasātala and Pātāla. Their grounds are black, white, red, yellow, gravelly, rocky and golden, adorned with fine mansions. Hundreds of kinds of daityas and dānavas live there, and great kinds of serpents.
Nārada Maharshi went from the pātālas to svarga and declared in the assembly there that the pātālas are more lovely than svarga. There are gems that give delight, pure and radiant, and the many ornaments of the nāgas; the jewel-like maidens of the daityas and dānavas play here and there; such a pātāla gives joy even to one who is freed. By day the sun’s rays give light but no heat, and by night the moon’s rays give light but no cold. The dānavas and others, enjoying food of every kind, do not notice the passing of time. The forests, rivers and lakes ring with the calls of the kokilas, the ornaments, body pastes and perfumes are lovely and fragrant, and the sound of the vīṇā, the flute and the mṛdaṅga is heard without end. Below Pātāla shines Śesha, the body of Bhagavān Vishṇu made of tamas, the abode of endless auspicious qualities.
Source: Brahma Purāṇa, Chapter 21
Seen by Mārkaṇḍeya
In the pralaya, Mārkaṇḍeya Maharshi entered the belly of the divine child lying on the banyan leaf and saw the whole circle of the earth within it: the seven oceans, the seven dvīpas, the seven kulācalas and Meru, Kurukshetra and the other holy kshetras, the rivers and tīrthas, the cities and villages, and the whole brahmāṇḍa from Brahmā down to a blade of grass. He saw the upper lokas, Bhūḥ, Bhuvaḥ, Svaḥ, Mahaḥ, Tapaḥ and Satya, and the lower lokas in this order: Atala, Vitala, Pātāla, Sutala, Rasātala, Mahātala and Talātala. By the grace of that deva nothing hindered him, yet he could not find the end of Bhagavān Vishṇu‘s body; then he took refuge in the giver of varas, and the Mahāpurusha opened his mouth and Mārkaṇḍeya came out.
Source: Brahma Purāṇa, Chapter 54
Sources
- Bhavishya Purāṇa, Brahma Parva, Chapter 126
- Brahma Purāṇa, Chapters 21, 54