Shloka 28

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

Devanagari script

शिखायां देवदेवस्य ध्रुवो राजा न्यषीदत तारका रोमकूपेभ्यो रोमाणि च महर्षयः

Transliteration

śikhāyāṃ devadevasya dhruvo rājā nyaṣīdata tārakā romakūpebhyo romāṇi ca maharṣayaḥ

Translation

[{"question": "Why is the wife called “tapasvinī” if she is in a house (gṛha)?", "answer": "In Purāṇic idiom, tapas is not restricted to forest renunciation; it can denote disciplined, dharmic living, vows, and purity maintained by a householder woman."}, {"question": "What does the wife’s fear indicate in this narrative pattern?", "answer": "Fear commonly marks the onset of an adbhuta (marvel). It signals that what is being encountered exceeds ordinary experience—often a divine sign, boon, or karmic consequence."}, {"question": "Is the infant already identified as divine here?", "answer": "No. The verse only states that the brāhmaṇa sees the infant; identification (as a boon-born child, a sage, or a divine manifestation) typically unfolds in subsequent verses."}]

Speakers

• Not specified in the given excerpt (narrative voice within the Purāṇic account).

Primary Deities

• Vishnu (Trivikrama)
• Dhruva (as a celestial station)

Key Themes

• Cosmic body (virāṭ) mapping
• Astral cosmography
• Dhruva as axis mundi (cosmic pivot)
• Rṣi-constellations and sacralization of the sky

Verse Rasa (Emotional Flavour)

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

FAQs

Why is Dhruva placed on the deity’s śikhā (topknot)?

Dhruva is the ‘fixed’ point around which the heavens appear to revolve. Placing him on the summit of the cosmic person symbolizes the axis of stability (dhruvatva) at the highest point, making the deity’s body the very frame of the cosmos.

What is the significance of stars arising from pores and sages from hairs?

The verse uses a microcosm–macrocosm analogy: innumerable pores suggest innumerable stars, while hairs—fine, radiant filaments—become the ṛṣis who ‘illuminate’ and regulate cosmic order through tapas and knowledge. It sacralizes the night sky as an emanation of the divine body.

Does this imply a literal creation, or a symbolic cosmology?

Purāṇic cosmology often speaks in layered registers. The imagery can be read as (1) a mythic account of manifestation, and (2) a symbolic teaching that all celestial order is grounded in the supreme being’s presence (adhisthāna).