Vamana Purana — Bali's Sudarshana Worship, Shloka 37

Bali’s Worship of Sudarshana and Prahlada’s Teaching on Vishnu-Bhakti

Devanagari script

शारीरं मानसं वाग्जं मूर्तामूर्तं चराचरम् दृश्यं स्पृस्यमदृश्यञ्च तत्सर्वं केशवात्मकम्

Transliteration

śārīraṃ mānasaṃ vāgjaṃ mūrtāmūrtaṃ carācaram dṛśyaṃ spṛsyamadṛśyañca tatsarvaṃ keśavātmakam

Translation

जे काही शारीरिक, मानसिक किंवा वाणीजन्य आहे; जे मूर्त किंवा अमूर्त आहे; जे चर किंवा अचर आहे; जे दृश्य, स्पर्श्य किंवा अदृश्य आहे—ते सर्व केशवस्वरूप आहे।

Speakers

• Unspecified in the provided excerpt (a theological declaration addressed to the listener in Adhyaya 67).

Primary Deities

• Keśava
• Viṣṇu

Key Themes

• Viśvarūpa / Sarvātmakatva (God as the essence of all)
• Ontology (categories of being)
• Immanence of Viṣṇu
• Unity of sentient-insentient creation

Verse Rasa (Emotional Flavour)

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

FAQs

What doctrine is being taught by listing ‘bodily, mental, verbal… visible, tangible, invisible’?

It is a comprehensive ontological sweep meant to deny any remainder outside the divine: all experiential domains (body, mind, speech) and all modes of being (form/formless; moving/unmoving; visible/invisible) are asserted to be pervaded by Keśava as their essence.

Does ‘keśavātmakam’ imply identity (everything is God) or pervasion (God in everything)?

Purāṇic usage typically supports pervasion and essential dependence: the world is not independent of Keśava; it exists and is knowable because it is grounded in him as inner essence (antar-ātman) and sustaining reality.

How does this relate to worship (pūjā) in the surrounding teaching?

If all categories of existence are Keśava’s ‘ātman,’ then worship is not confined to a single object or place; it is validated as engagement with the all-pervading Lord, reinforcing the salvific claim of the preceding verse.