Vamana Purana — Portents at Bali's Sacrifice, Shloka 76

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

Devanagari script

साप्ययब्रवीद् दिवा व्याघ्र लोको ऽयं परिपश्यति रात्रावुद्घाटयिष्याम ततो रंस्याव स्वेच्छया

Transliteration

sāpyayabravīd divā vyāghra loko 'yaṃ paripaśyati rātrāvudghāṭayiṣyāma tato raṃsyāva svecchayā

Translation

माहिष्मत्यां त्रिनयनं तत्रैव च हुताशनम्। अर्बुदे च त्रिसौपर्णं क्ष्माधरं सूकराचले (पूजयन्ति)।

Speakers

• Narrative voice (a male protagonist) reporting the woman’s speech; addressed to a sage (mune) in the surrounding frame.

Key Themes

• Secrecy and social surveillance (loka-paripaśyati)
• Nocturnal timing motif in narrative episodes
• Moral tension/temptation setting (implicit)

Verse Rasa (Emotional Flavour)

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

FAQs

Why does the speaker emphasize “by day the world is watching” (divā… lokaḥ paripaśyati)?

It signals the social-ethical frame typical of Purāṇic storytelling: actions are constrained by public scrutiny (loka), while night becomes the liminal time for concealed acts. This contrast often foreshadows either a transgression or a test of restraint.

What does vyāghra mean here—an actual tiger?

No. In vocative usage, vyāghra commonly functions as an honorific for a man—‘tiger among men,’ i.e., a brave or eminent person.

Does this verse contain any tīrtha or geographic marker typical of the Vāmana Purāṇa?

Not in this śloka. The verse is purely dialogic; any geographic anchoring (river, lake, forest, tīrtha) would have to be drawn from adjacent verses in the chapter.