Vamana Purana — Merit of Shravana Dvadashi, Shloka 47
The Merit of Śravaṇa-Dvādaśī and the Liberation of a Preta through Gayā Piṇḍa-Rites
ऋते पिनाकिनो देवात् त्रात्ऽस्मान् न यतो हरे अतो विवृद्धिमगमद् यथा व्याधिरुपेक्षितः
ṛte pinākino devāt trāt'smān na yato hare ato vivṛddhimagamad yathā vyādhirupekṣitaḥ
[{"question": "Who is ‘surāraṇi’ in this context, and why is he trembling?", "answer": "‘Surāraṇi’ (“enemy of the gods”) is a standard epithet for Bali, the Asura king who has displaced the Devas. He trembles because Vāmana’s words and presence disclose a superhuman, cosmic sovereignty—Bali senses that the petitioner is actually the Lord who contains and governs the worlds."}, {"question": "What does ‘jagatāṃ yoni’ imply theologically?", "answer": "It identifies Viṣṇu not merely as a powerful deity but as the ontological source and container of the cosmos—both origin (cause) and ground (support). In the Trivikrama episode, this prepares for the explicit revelation that all worlds can be encompassed within the Lord’s body."}, {"question": "Does this verse contain geographical (tīrtha) data typical of the Vāmana Purāṇa?", "answer": "No. Despite the Vāmana Purāṇa’s strong geographical orientation elsewhere, this verse is narrative-theological and contains no named rivers, forests, lakes, or pilgrimage sites."}]
{ "primaryRasa": "karuna", "secondaryRasa": "shanta", "rasaIntensity": 0, "emotionalArcPosition": "", "moodDescriptors": [] }
FAQs
The line frames the crisis as requiring supreme divine protection; Śiva is acknowledged as the Pināka-bearing protector, while Hari is directly invoked as the one who will act within this narrative arc (culminating in Viṣṇu’s avatāra intervention). It reflects a Purāṇic idiom where deities are invoked in complementary roles rather than strict sectarian separation.
It depicts unchecked adharma/asuric power as self-amplifying: when not countered by timely dharmic action (divine or royal), it spreads like an untreated illness. The simile justifies the necessity of decisive intervention rather than passive endurance.
No explicit river, lake, forest, or tīrtha is named here; the verse is thematic and rhetorical, setting up the urgency for divine action rather than describing sacred geography.