Vamana Purana — Vamana's Birth, Shloka 48

Vamana’s Birth during Bali’s Horse-Sacrifice and the Mapping of Vishnu’s Sacred Presences

Devanagari script

एवं कृतोपनयनो भगवान् भूतभावनः संस्तूयमानो ऋषिभिः साङ्गं वेदमधीयत

Transliteration

evaṃ kṛtopanayano bhagavān bhūtabhāvanaḥ saṃstūyamāno ṛṣibhiḥ sāṅgaṃ vedamadhīyata

Translation

Thus, after his upanayana (initiation with the sacred thread) had been performed, the Blessed Lord—benefactor and sustainer of beings—while being praised by the sages, studied the Veda together with its ancillary disciplines (the Vedāṅgas).

Speakers

• Narratorial voice (Purāṇic narrator) describing Bhagavān; interlocutors not specified in the provided excerpt.

Primary Deities

• Vishnu (Bhagavān)

Key Themes

• Dharma of Vedic initiation
• Ideal of divine humility (Lord adopting brahmacarya discipline)
• Authority of Veda and Vedāṅgas
• Sage praise (stuti in narrative form)

Verse Rasa (Emotional Flavour)

{ "primaryRasa": "shanta", "secondaryRasa": "adbhuta", "rasaIntensity": 0, "emotionalArcPosition": "", "moodDescriptors": [] }

FAQs

Why does the text emphasize the Lord’s upanayana and Vedic study?

It presents Bhagavān as the archetype of dharma: even as supreme, he models the social-religious discipline of brahmacarya and the authority of śruti, legitimizing Vedic learning as a sacred norm.

What does ‘sāṅgaṃ vedaṃ’ imply in Purāṇic usage?

It indicates not only recitation of the Veda but mastery supported by the Vedāṅgas (auxiliaries such as phonetics, ritual, grammar, etymology, meter, and astronomy), i.e., complete traditional competence.

Is this a stuti (hymn) verse or narrative prose in meter?

It is narrative in śloka meter but includes a stuti element (‘being praised by sages’), showing that praise accompanies and authorizes the Lord’s dharmic acts.