Vamana Purana — Vamana's Birth, Shloka 53

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

Devanagari script

समाविष्टानि पश्यस्व तेजांसि पृथिवीतले ये संनिधानाः सततं मदंशाः पुण्यवर्धनाः तेनाहं प्रतिजानामि कुरुक्षेत्रं गतो बलिः

Transliteration

samāviṣṭāni paśyasva tejāṃsi pṛthivītale ye saṃnidhānāḥ satataṃ madaṃśāḥ puṇyavardhanāḥ tenāhaṃ pratijānāmi kurukṣetraṃ gato baliḥ

Translation

Homage to you as the svāhā-formula; homage to you as the hanta-exclamation. You are of all forms and yet formless; you are the very form of the Veda—homage to you.

Speakers

• Vāmana speaking to Bharadvāja

Primary Deities

• Vishnu (Vāmana)
• Bali

Key Themes

• Divine immanence (aṃśa) and sacred potency
• Merit-generation through proximity to holy power
• Geographical verification via auspicious signs
• Linking cosmology to tīrtha-location

Verse Rasa (Emotional Flavour)

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

FAQs

What are the “tejāṃsi” that pervade the earth, and how are they “portions of me”?

The verse presents sacred potency as a distributed divine presence (aṃśa). In Purāṇic cosmology, tīrthas and ritual sites are ‘charged’ by such tejas, making them puṇya-vardhana—capable of increasing merit through contact, ritual, or residence.

How does this verse connect cosmology to geography?

It uses observable/experienced auspicious potency (tejas, saṃnidhāna) as a diagnostic for locating a major ritual event. The sacred landscape is not inert; it is read as a field of divine signs that confirm Bali’s presence at Kurukṣetra.

Why is Bali’s movement to Kurukṣetra important in a Purāṇic geography text?

By anchoring a major mythic-ritual episode (Aśvamedha and the Vāmana encounter) in a named tīrtha-region, the text elevates Kurukṣetra’s status and integrates narrative authority into the map of sacred places.