Vamana Purana — Bali Learns of Vamana, Shloka 55

Bali Learns of Vamana in Aditi’s Womb and Prahlada Teaches Refuge in Hari

Devanagari script

ये संश्रिता हरिमनन्तमनादिमध्यं विष्णुं चराचरगुरुं हरिमीशितारम् संसारगर्तपतितस्य करावलम्बं नूनं न ते भुवि नरा ज्वरिणो भवन्ति // वम्प्_51.54 तन्मना दानवश्रेष्ठ तद्भक्तश्च भवाधुना स एष भवतः श्रेयो विधास्यति जनार्धनः

Transliteration

ye saṃśritā harimanantamanādimadhyaṃ viṣṇuṃ carācaraguruṃ harimīśitāram saṃsāragartapatitasya karāvalambaṃ nūnaṃ na te bhuvi narā jvariṇo bhavanti // VamP_51.54 tanmanā dānavaśreṣṭha tadbhaktaśca bhavādhunā sa eṣa bhavataḥ śreyo vidhāsyati janārdhanaḥ

Translation

“Those men on earth who have taken shelter in Hari—endless, without beginning or middle—Viṣṇu, the teacher of all moving and unmoving beings, Hari the sovereign; (who is) the supporting hand for one fallen into the pit of saṃsāra—surely such men do not become afflicted with fever (torment). Therefore, O best of Dānavas, fix your mind on him and become his devotee now; this Janārdana will bring about your welfare.”

Speakers

• Unspecified in the excerpt (a narrator/teacher voice addressing the Dānava-श्रेष्ठ; within the Vāmana–Bali narrative)

Primary Deities

• Vishnu

Key Themes

• Stuti of Viṣṇu
• Bhakti as liberation/support
• Saṃsāra as peril (garta)
• Divine grace as ‘handhold’
• Ethical exhortation to an asura (universal accessibility of devotion)

Verse Rasa (Emotional Flavour)

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

FAQs

What does “saṃsāra-garta” (pit of saṃsāra) convey in Purāṇic idiom?

It is a vivid metaphor for the precariousness of embodied existence—one ‘falls’ into repetitive birth and suffering. Viṣṇu is described as karāvalamba, the handhold that lifts the fallen, emphasizing grace and rescue rather than self-powered escape.

Why say devotees ‘do not become jvariṇaḥ’ (fevered)? Is it literal or metaphorical?

Both layers are possible. ‘Jvara’ can mean physical fever, but in devotional poetry it commonly signifies burning affliction—anxiety, grief, karmic torment. The claim is that refuge in Hari neutralizes the inner heat of suffering, even if outer conditions persist.

How does this verse fit the Vāmana–Bali narrative arc?

It frames the asura’s crisis as solvable through devotion and surrender. In the Bali cycle, the theological point is that Viṣṇu’s supremacy is not merely punitive; he also becomes the agent of the devotee’s ultimate welfare (śreyas), even when the devotee is an asura.