Vamana Purana — Portents at Bali's Sacrifice, Shloka 91

Portents at Bali’s Sacrifice and the Kośakāra’s Son: The Power of Past Karma

Devanagari script

हृष्टो भर्त्रानुसृष्टेन नृणा तदनुसारिणा प्रोत्क्षिप्य यष्टिं मां ब्रह्मन् समाधावत् त्वरान्वितः

Transliteration

hṛṣṭo bhartrānusṛṣṭena nṛṇā tadanusāriṇā protkṣipya yaṣṭiṃ māṃ brahman samādhāvat tvarānvitaḥ

Translation

স্বামীর প্রেরিত ও তার আদেশানুসারী এক ব্যক্তি আনন্দিত হয়ে লাঠি তুলে, হে ব্রাহ্মণ, তাড়াহুড়ো করে আমার দিকে ধেয়ে এল।

Speakers

• Narrator (an ‘I’-speaker recounting a personal incident) addressing a Brahmin interlocutor (brahman). Exact frame-speakers not explicit in these verses alone (likely within a Pulastya–Nārada or similar mahātmya dialogue typical of the Vāmana Purāṇa).

Key Themes

• Didactic narrative
• Peril and pursuit
• Consequences of attachment (āsakti)
• Tirtha-mahātmya framing (implied)

Verse Rasa (Emotional Flavour)

{ "primaryRasa": "bhayanaka", "secondaryRasa": "raudra", "rasaIntensity": 0, "emotionalArcPosition": "", "moodDescriptors": [] }

FAQs

Who is the ‘I’ being chased, and why is the pursuer ‘sent by his master’ (bhartṛ-anusṛṣṭa)?

The verse is cast as a first-person anecdote: the speaker reports being attacked by a subordinate acting under a superior’s command. In tīrtha-māhātmya literature, such vignettes often illustrate karmic peril, social violence, or the urgency that drives one toward refuge (often culminating in a tīrtha’s saving power later in the episode).

What does the raised staff (yaṣṭi) signify in Purāṇic narrative style?

A yaṣṭi is a common marker of coercion—used by guards, herdsmen, or agents of authority. Its mention emphasizes imminent bodily danger and frames the episode as a moral lesson about fear, flight, and the consequences of one’s prior actions or attachments.

How should we classify this verse’s genre within the Vāmana Purāṇa?

Although it reads like a personal incident, its placement in Adhyāya 64 (within Saro-māhātmya) suggests an exemplum: a short narrative inserted to support a larger tīrtha-related teaching (merit, refuge, or transformation), even if the tīrtha name is not repeated in every śloka.