Vamana Purana — Vamana's Birth, Shloka 50

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

Devanagari script

मासेनैकेन बगवान् ज्ञानश्रुतिमहार्णवः लोकचारप्रवृत्त्यर्थमभूच्छ्रुतिविशारदः

Transliteration

māsenaikena bagavān jñānaśrutimahārṇavaḥ lokacārapravṛttyarthamabhūcchrutiviśāradaḥ

Translation

ഒരു മാസത്തിനുള്ളിൽ ഭഗവാൻ—ജ്ഞാനവും ശ്രുതിയും എന്ന മഹാസമുദ്രം—ലോകാചാരം സ്ഥാപിച്ച് നയിക്കുന്നതിനായി ശ്രുതിയിൽ പൂർണ്ണ വിശാരദനായി।

Speakers

• Narratorial voice; the verse states the purpose of the Lord’s learning as normative guidance for the world.

Primary Deities

• Vishnu (Bhagavān)

Key Themes

• Śruti as foundation of loka-ācāra (worldly norms)
• Divine pedagogy and exemplarity
• Compression of time as a mark of divinity (rapid mastery)
• Dharma as socially enacted practice (pravṛtti)

Verse Rasa (Emotional Flavour)

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

FAQs

What is the doctrinal point of mastering śruti ‘in one month’?

It signals superhuman capacity while still affirming the normative path: the Lord does not bypass śruti; he perfects it swiftly to establish dharma as the standard for human society.

How should ‘lokacārapravṛttyartham’ be understood?

It frames Vedic learning as practical and regulatory—meant to set in motion and stabilize proper conduct (ācāra) in the world, not merely to confer private spiritual attainment.

Does ‘jñānaśrutimahārṇavaḥ’ describe the Veda or the Lord?

Grammatically it qualifies Bhagavān: he is ‘an ocean’ of both knowledge (jñāna) and revelation (śruti), implying that the Veda he studies is also intrinsic to his divine nature.