Skanda Purana — Mahesvara Khanda, Shloka 18
पदद्वयेन वा पूर्णं जगदेतच्चराचरम् । विहाय तत्स्वरूपं च देवदेवो जनार्द्दनः । पुनश्च बटुरूपोऽसावुपविश्य निजासने
padadvayena vā pūrṇaṃ jagadetaccarācaram | vihāya tatsvarūpaṃ ca devadevo janārddanaḥ | punaśca baṭurūpo'sāvupaviśya nijāsane
Par deux pas seulement, cet univers tout entier—le mobile et l’immobile—fut rempli. Alors Janārdana, le Dieu des dieux, délaissa cette forme qui embrasse tout ; puis, reprenant l’apparence d’un jeune brahmacārin, il s’assit sur son propre siège.
Sūta (Lomaharṣaṇa) narrating to the sages (deduced from Māheśvarakhaṇḍa narrative style)
Scene: After filling the cosmos with two strides, Viṣṇu withdraws the vast form and appears as a youthful brahmacārin Vāmana, seated calmly on his seat, staff and water-pot nearby; contrast between cosmic scale and intimate stillness.
FAQs
The Lord can pervade the cosmos in majesty, yet chooses humility—teaching that true sovereignty is joined with restraint and dharmic purpose.
The passage occurs within Kedārakhaṇḍa, thus framed by the glory of Kedāra-kṣetra, even while narrating the Vāmana–Bali episode.
No direct ritual is prescribed in this verse; it is narrative theology highlighting the Lord’s cosmic act and subsequent humble form.