Shloka 40
Vamana's Three Steps — Vamana’s Three Steps and the Binding of Bali
प्रोक्तं श्रुतौ भवतापीश वाक्यं दानं पात्रे भवते सौख्यदायि देशे सुपुण्ये वरदे यच्च काले तच्चाशेषं दृश्यते चक्रपाणे
proktaṃ śrutau bhavatāpīśa vākyaṃ dānaṃ pātre bhavate saukhyadāyi deśe supuṇye varade yacca kāle taccāśeṣaṃ dṛśyate cakrapāṇe
“O Lord, You Yourself have declared in the Śruti this teaching: a gift given to a worthy recipient becomes a giver of happiness; and whatever is given in a supremely meritorious place, and at the proper time, yields its boon. All of that is fully present here in You, O bearer of the discus.”
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FAQs
It reiterates a core Purāṇic rule: gifts fructify according to recipient (pātra), place (deśa), and time (kāla). Even without naming a tīrtha, it mirrors the Vāmana Purāṇa’s broader method of mapping merit onto locations—here culminating in the theological claim that Viṣṇu is the highest ‘sacred locus’.
Pātra is the ‘fit vessel’—a recipient whose conduct, learning, and restraint make the gift spiritually efficacious. The verse implies that giving to Viṣṇu (or His embodiment as a brāhmaṇa Vāmana) is the unsurpassed pātra.
Bāṇa strengthens his plea by appealing to the highest pramāṇa (authority). If Vedic teaching defines the conditions for fruitful giving, then Bali’s act—directed to the supreme recipient—should be read as maximally meritorious rather than punishable.