Vamana Purana — Prahlada's Instructions to Bali, Shloka 39

Vishnu Worship and Temple Building

Devanagari script

इमाश् च पितरो दैत्य गाथा गायन्ति योगिनः पुरतो यदुसिंहस्य ज्यामघस्य तपस्विनः

Transliteration

imāś ca pitaro daitya gāthā gāyanti yoginaḥ purato yadusiṃhasya jyāmaghasya tapasvinaḥ

Translation

“And these very ancestral Fathers (pitaraḥ), O Daitya, sing sacred verses (gāthāḥ) as yogins do, in the presence of Jyāmagha—the lion among the Yadus—who is an ascetic (tapasvin).”

Speakers

• Narratorial voice within the Purāṇic dialogue (speaker not explicit in the given excerpt) addressing a Daitya interlocutor

Primary Deities

• Pitṛs (ancestral deities)

Key Themes

• Ancestral veneration (Pitṛ)
• Royal genealogy and exemplars
• Tapas (ascetic merit)
• Praise-poetry (gāthā/stuti)

Verse Rasa (Emotional Flavour)

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

FAQs

Who are the ‘pitaraḥ’ here, and why are they portrayed as singing like yogins?

In Purāṇic idiom, the Pitṛs are semi-divine ancestral beings sustained by śrāddha and remembered through lineage. Depicting them as ‘yoginaḥ’ emphasizes their subtle, merit-based status and their capacity to utter authoritative praise (gāthā) that validates a lineage’s dharma and tapas.

Why is Jyāmagha called ‘Yadu-siṃha’ and ‘tapasvin’—is he a king or an ascetic?

Purāṇas often idealize exemplary rulers as possessing both kṣātra authority and ascetic discipline. ‘Yadu-siṃha’ marks Jyāmagha as preeminent in the Yadu line, while ‘tapasvin’ signals that his legitimacy and fame are grounded in austerity and self-restraint, not merely power.

Does this verse contain geographical/tīrtha information typical of the Vāmana Purāṇa?

Not directly. This unit functions as genealogical-ethical framing: it establishes a model of merit (tapas, devotion, ancestral approval) that later chapters often connect to tīrtha practice, temple service, and pilgrimage merit.