Shloka 21

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

Devanagari script

कुक्षिभ्यामर्णवाः सप्त जठरे भुवनानि च वलिषु त्रिषु नद्यश्च यज्ञास्तु जठरे स्थिताः

Transliteration

kukṣibhyāmarṇavāḥ sapta jaṭhare bhuvanāni ca valiṣu triṣu nadyaśca yajñāstu jaṭhare sthitāḥ

Translation

“From his two flanks (are) the seven oceans; in the belly are the worlds. In the three folds (of the abdomen) are the rivers; and the sacrifices (yajñas) are established in the belly.”

Speakers

• Not specified in the provided excerpt (likely a narrator/ṛṣi continuing the mapping).

Primary Deities

• Vishnu (implied cosmic person)

Key Themes

• Sapta-samudra cosmography
• Rivers as sacred arteries of the world
• Yajña as the sustaining ‘digestive fire’ of cosmos
• Geography-theology integration

Verse Rasa (Emotional Flavour)

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

FAQs

Which ‘seven oceans’ are intended here?

Purāṇic cosmography commonly enumerates seven concentric oceans (often: salt, sugarcane-juice, wine, ghee, curd, milk, and fresh water). This verse references the standard ‘sapta-arṇava’ concept without listing names.

What are the ‘three folds’ (tri-vali) that contain the rivers?

‘Vali’ denotes abdominal folds/creases. The phrase poetically maps river-systems onto the body’s natural lines, presenting rivers as channels that course through and structure the world-body, reinforcing the Vāmana Purāṇa’s geography-forward sacralization of landscape.

Why are yajñas said to be ‘in the belly’?

The belly is the site of digestion and transformative fire; yajña is likewise a transformative rite that ‘digests’ offerings into divine nourishment. The mapping asserts that ritual is not external to the cosmos but an internal sustaining process of the cosmic person.