Vamana Purana — Portents at Bali's Sacrifice, Shloka 87

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

Devanagari script

मासेनागमनं कार्यं न स्थेयं परतस्ततः इत्येवमुक्ता सा भर्त्रा तन्वी मामधिरुह्य च

Transliteration

māsenāgamanaṃ kāryaṃ na stheyaṃ paratastataḥ ityevamuktā sā bhartrā tanvī māmadhiruhya ca

Translation

“‘Your return must be within a month; you should not remain there beyond that.’ Thus instructed by her husband, the slender woman mounted me (the conveyance) and (set out).”

Speakers

• Husband instructing Vimati; narrator speaks in first person as the mount/vehicle (“me”).

Key Themes

• Time-bound vows/conditions
• Narrative foreshadowing through constraints
• First-person narration device (vehicle as narrator)

Verse Rasa (Emotional Flavour)

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

FAQs

What does the one-month limit signify in Purāṇic narrative logic?

A fixed time-limit commonly functions as a dharma-condition: it tests obedience, self-control, and the maintenance of household order. Such constraints often become the hinge on which merit, fault, or a later miraculous event turns.

Who is the ‘me’ that she mounts (mām adhiruhya)?

Given the immediately prior mention of the ‘white donkey,’ the first-person ‘me’ most naturally refers to the donkey as a narrating voice (an anthropomorphic or transformed narrator), a technique used in Purāṇic exempla to deliver moralized recollection.

How might this connect back to sacred geography if no place is named here?

These verses are typically the setup. The later portion of the chapter usually names the specific saras/tīrtha, river, or forest where the consequence unfolds; the present lines establish the journey and the rule whose breach/fulfillment becomes meaningful at that sacred site.