Vamana Purana — Harihara Revelation, Shloka 45
Harihara Revelation and the Kurukshetra Tirtha Cycle: Sthanu in Vishnu and the Sanctification of Saptasarasvata
दुर्भिक्षे व्यसने चापि येनात्मा विनिवेदितः स स्वयन्दत्त इत्युस्तथान्यः कारणान्तरैः
durbhikṣe vyasane cāpi yenātmā viniveditaḥ sa svayandatta ityustathānyaḥ kāraṇāntaraiḥ
Selbst in Hungersnot oder in Zeiten des Unheils wird derjenige, der seine eigene Person dargebracht (hingegeben) hat, svayaṃdatta, „selbstgegeben“, genannt; ebenso kann ein anderer aus anderen Ursachen so bezeichnet werden.
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FAQs
It is a dharma-technical label for a person who has ‘given himself’—i.e., surrendered his person/agency under extreme conditions (such as famine) or other specified circumstances. The verse is definitional rather than devotional.
The wording functions as classification: it identifies who is called ‘self-given’ under famine/calamity and other causes. Purāṇic dharma sections often record such categories without presenting them as universally desirable.
Famine is a classic ‘exceptional circumstance’ in dharma literature where normal social-economic rules are discussed with special nuance; this verse anchors the definition of svayaṃdatta in such crisis conditions.