Shloka 31

Vamana's Three Steps — Vamana’s Three Steps and the Binding of Bali

Devanagari script

द्वितीयेन क्रमेणाथ स्वर्महर्जनतापसाः क्रान्तार्धार्धेन वैराजं मध्येनापूर्यताम्बरम्

Transliteration

dvitīyena krameṇātha svarmaharjanatāpasāḥ krāntārdhārdhena vairājaṃ madhyenāpūryatāmbaram

Translation

Then, with the second stride, he traversed the realms of Svarga, Maharloka, and Tapoloka; and with half of that stride he crossed the Virāja (cosmic expanse), filling the mid-region and the sky.

Speakers

• Narrator (Purāṇic speaker) describing Trivikrama’s act to the listening sage(s) (contextual narration within the Vāmana–Bali episode).

Primary Deities

• Vishnu (Trivikrama)
• Bali (implied)

Key Themes

• Trivikrama’s cosmic expansion
• Cosmography (lokas)
• Divine sovereignty over the three worlds
• Mythic measurement of the universe

Verse Rasa (Emotional Flavour)

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

FAQs

What does ‘Virāja’ signify here—place, being, or principle?

In Purāṇic cosmography, Virāja can denote the cosmic expanse or the personified cosmic order/body through which the worlds are arrayed. Here it functions as a vast intermediate cosmic domain that Trivikrama’s stride crosses, emphasizing the avatar’s universe-filling magnitude.

Why are Svarga, Maharloka, and Tapoloka listed in a single stride?

The verse compresses multiple higher lokas into the sweep of Trivikrama’s second step to convey that the ‘measure’ of the cosmos is effortlessly encompassed by Vishnu’s form; it is a poetic cosmographic stacking rather than a cartographic itinerary.

Does this verse mention any pilgrimage geography typical of the Vāmana Purāṇa?

No. Unlike the tīrtha-focused sections, this passage is primarily cosmological and mythic, naming lokas rather than rivers, forests, or terrestrial sacred sites.