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

[{"question": "Why are Śiva and Agni both assigned to Māhiṣmatī?", "answer": "Purāṇic kṣetra-mapping often layers cults: a principal deity (here Śiva as Trinayana) can coexist with a Vedic deity (Agni) reflecting ritual practice—especially fire rites—embedded in the site’s pilgrimage identity."}, {"question": "What is the significance of Arbuda in Purāṇic geography?", "answer": "Arbuda (Mount Abu) is a major western sacred mountain; Purāṇas treat such mountains as tīrtha-clusters with multiple shrines and distinctive local deity-titles, here represented by ‘Tri-sauparṇa’."}, {"question": "Does ‘Sūkarācala’ imply a Varāha connection?", "answer": "Yes. ‘Sūkara’ (boar) strongly evokes Varāha symbolism. Pairing it with ‘Kṣmādhara’ (‘earth-bearer’) aligns with the Varāha mythic function of supporting/rescuing the earth, even if the verse uses a title rather than the explicit name ‘Varāha’."}]

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.