Sudarshana Chakra
The spinning discus of Vishnu, a weapon against all evil forces. As Chakrattalwar it is worshipped in its own right.
Meaning
TTD News, from the Tirumala temple of Venkateswara, describes it as a spinning disc with 108 serrated edges. In images of Vishnu and of Venkateswara it is held in the right rear hand, with the conch in the front left. The goddess Durga carries it too. T. A. Gopinatha Rao describes two ways sculptors show it: as a cart wheel with spokes and a hub, held by the rim, or richly ornamented, with its spokes shaped as the petals of a lotus. It is a weapon like a quoit, made to be thrown.
Origin and history
Two old texts tell different stories of where it came from. In the Vishnu Purana, Vishvakarma, the craftsman of the gods, put the sun on his lathe to lessen its heat and made the discus of Vishnu from the brilliance he ground away, along with the trident of Shiva and the weapons of the other gods. The account given at Tirumala agrees that Vishwakarma made it from the dust of the sun, with ten million spikes in two rows turning in opposite directions to give it its serrated edge. In the Mahabharata, the fire god Pavaka gives Krishna a discus “with an iron pole attached to a hole in the centre”; it becomes his favourite weapon, and it comes back to his hand after it is thrown.
The discus as a person
The discus is also shown as a person, an ayudhapurusha or personified weapon, in a fierce form. The Victoria and Albert Museum has a figure of Vishnu flanked by Chakrapurusha, “wheel-man”, and Gadanari, “club-woman”, personifications of his discus and mace. At Tirumala, on the last day of the annual festival, the Sudarshana Chakrattalwar is immersed in the temple tank.
See also
Sri Yantra, Trishula, Damaru, Shankha, Padma, Kalasha.
Sources
- Sudarshana Chakram: the divine discus for protection, TTD News, Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (9 October 2016)
- Vishnu Chaturanama, Victoria and Albert Museum, Summary
- Elements of Hindu Iconography, Vol. I, Part I, T. A. Gopinatha Rao, 1914, Law Printing House, Madras (Internet Archive, Cornell University Library copy), Introduction: definition and description of terms
- The Vishnu Purana: A System of Hindu Mythology and Tradition, Translated by H. H. Wilson, 1840, John Murray, London (Internet Archive, Digital Library of India copy), Book I; Book III, chapter 2
- The Mahabharata of Krishna-Dwaipayana Vyasa, Volume 1: Books 1, 2 and 3, Translated by Kisari Mohan Ganguli, Project Gutenberg, Book 1 (Adi Parva), Khandava-daha Parva, section CCXXVII
Last reviewed September 24, 2026 by Rory Hansen. How we research