Sudarshana Chakra Story

~Maharshi Srilakshmipurohit

Sage Narada was once visiting Vaikunta, the abode of Lord Vishnu. He extolled the Lord in very colorful terms. Vishnu's major weapon was the 'Chakra' (sharp-edged spinning wheel) known as 'Sudarshana Chakra'. So far none could face it and come out of the attack victorious. The Chakra had a deity associated with it and he used to boast that all the powers the Lord had were due to him and He couldn't kill the demons without his help. Narada's praising of Vishnu angered him; he was sore that Narada had ignored his prowess.

Learning of this, Vishnu called him and said 'Dear Sudarshana, it is true I defeated the Asuras with your help. Go to earth and be born a thousand-armed hero; I will come and appear as the son of a sage. Let us match our strength there!"

The Sudarshana Chakra could no longer remain in Vaikunta and came down to earth. Kritaveerya, belonging to the Lunar Race, was childless for a long time and later a son without arms was born to him. However, he acquired one thousand arms and invincibility by the grace of Lord Dattatreya.But this arrogant man, Kartaveeryarjuna, and faced Parashurama in battle and died.The Sudarshana Chakra was thus subdued.

And another perspective:

Origin and meaning:

The word sudarshan chakra is derived from two words, ‘su’ and ‘darshan‘. It means the vision (darshan) of which is auspicious (su). The word chakra is derived from ‘chruhu’, which means movement and ‘kruhu’, which means to do. Thus, chakra means that which is mobile. Of all divine weapons, this is the only one which is constantly in motion.

Creation and history:

There are various schools of thought regarding the creation of the discus, as given below.

It was created by the combined energy of Brahma, Vishnu and Mahesh.

Bruhaspati, the Guru of the deities, gave the discus to Lord Vishnu.

Sri Krishna procured it from the deities (devatamandal).

Sri Krishna and Arjun assisted the fire deity (Agnidev) in burning the Khandav forest. In return He presented Krishna with a discus and a koumodaki mace.

Female deities like Narayani, Vaishnodevi, etc., also wield discuses in Their hands.

Special features:

Krishna usually holds the discus on His little finger while Vishnu on His index finger. However, when aiming it at something, Krishna, too, would do so with His index finger.

After its release, the enemy is annihilated and it returns to the attacker.

Even after releasing it, it remains within the control of the attacker.

It travels along the path of zero stress nature and can reach anywhere within a moment.

When an obstruction is posed by the enemy, the speed of the discus is augmented. This is called the rhansa speed.

It is soundless.