Vamana Purana — Vamana's Birth, Shloka 36

Vamana’s Birth during Bali’s Horse-Sacrifice and the Mapping of Vishnu’s Sacred Presences

Devanagari script

तं जातमात्रं भगवन्तमीशं नारायणं लोकपतिं पुराणम् ब्रह्मा समभ्येत्य समं महर्षिभिः स्तोत्रं जगादाथ विभोर्महर्षे // वम्प्_62.35 नमो ऽस्तु ते माधव सत्त्वमूर्त्ते नमो ऽस्तु ते शाश्वत विश्वरूप नमो ऽस्तु ते शत्रुवनेन्धनाग्ने नमो ऽस्तु वै पापमहादवाग्ने

Transliteration

taṃ jātamātraṃ bhagavantamīśaṃ nārāyaṇaṃ lokapatiṃ purāṇam brahmā samabhyetya samaṃ maharṣibhiḥ stotraṃ jagādātha vibhormaharṣe // VamP_62.35 namo 'stu te mādhava sattvamūrtte namo 'stu te śāśvata viśvarūpa namo 'stu te śatruvanendhanāgne namo 'stu vai pāpamahādavāgne

Translation

As soon as that Lord was born—Nārāyaṇa, the sovereign of the worlds, the Ancient One—Brahmā approached him together with the great seers and then uttered a hymn of praise to that all-pervading Lord: “Homage to you, Mādhava, whose form is pure being (sattva). Homage to you, the Eternal One of universal form. Homage to you, the fire for which the forest of enemies is fuel. Homage indeed to you, the great wildfire that burns up sin.”

Speakers

• Brahmā (with the Maharṣis) offering stuti to the newly manifested Nārāyaṇa/Vāmana; narrative frame addressed to ‘maharṣe’ (a sage) in the verse’s vocative.

Primary Deities

• Vishnu (Nārāyaṇa/Mādhava)
• Brahmā

Key Themes

• Stuti as theological recognition
• Vishnu’s purāṇatva (primordiality)
• Sin-destruction and enemy-subduing power
• Sattva theology (purity/luminosity)
• Cosmic sovereignty (lokapati)

Verse Rasa (Emotional Flavour)

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

FAQs

Why does Brahmā praise Vāmana as ‘Nārāyaṇa’ and ‘purāṇa’ even though he appears as a dwarf child?

Purāṇic avatāra-theology holds that the avatāra is not a partial being but the same supreme Nārāyaṇa adopting a strategic form. ‘Purāṇa’ underscores his timeless primacy beyond the apparent birth-event.

What is the doctrinal force of calling Vishnu ‘sattva-mūrti’?

It frames Vishnu as the presiding principle of sattva—clarity, harmony, and sustaining order—contrasted with the destabilizing excesses of rajas/tamas that often characterize demonic domination in Purāṇic ethics.

How should we read the ‘forest-fire’ metaphors (enemy-forest fuel; wildfire of sin)?

They are conventional Purāṇic poetic intensifiers: enemies become mere fuel for divine power, and sin is portrayed as combustible impurity. The imagery signals inevitability and totality—Vishnu’s action is swift, consuming, and purifying.