Shloka 32

Vamana's Three Steps — Vamana’s Three Steps and the Binding of Bali

Devanagari script

ततः प्रतापिना ब्रह्मन् बृहद्विष्ण्वङ्घ्रिणाम्बरे ब्रह्माण्डोदरमाहत्य निरालोकं जगाम ह

Transliteration

tataḥ pratāpinā brahman bṛhadviṣṇvaṅghriṇāmbare brahmāṇḍodaramāhatya nirālokaṃ jagāma ha

Translation

[{"question": "What does it mean to ‘drink the nectar of Hari’s words’ with ‘vessels of hearing’?", "answer": "It is a layered metaphor: the ear (and the attentive mind behind it) is the ‘vessel’; when purified (vimala) by right intention and discipline, it can ‘contain’ and assimilate Hari-kathā. ‘Drinking’ indicates not mere listening but inward absorption that transforms the listener."}, {"question": "Why is hearing (śravaṇa) emphasized as strongly as worship or meditation?", "answer": "Purāṇic bhakti frequently treats śravaṇa as foundational: it is accessible, repeatable, and community-based, and it generates remembrance (smaraṇa) and praise (kīrtana). This verse links śravaṇa directly to inner joy and to transcending durgati."}, {"question": "Does the verse imply a specific text by ‘Hari’s words’—Veda, Purāṇa, or mantra?", "answer": "The expression is intentionally broad: it can include mantra, stotra, Purāṇic narration (hari-kathā), and dharma teaching attributed to Hari. The key criterion is that the content is ‘Hari-centered’ and received with purified receptivity."}]

Speakers

• Narrator addressing a Brahmin listener (internal frame of the Purāṇa’s narration).

Primary Deities

• Vishnu (Trivikrama)
• Brahmā (implied by ‘Brahmāṇḍa’)

Key Themes

• Transcendence of cosmic boundaries
• Cosmic egg cosmology
• Supremacy of Vishnu’s avatar
• Mythic depiction of the beyond (aloka)

Verse Rasa (Emotional Flavour)

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

FAQs

What is meant by ‘striking the interior of the Brahmāṇḍa’?

The Brahmāṇḍa is the universe conceived as a bounded shell. Trivikrama’s stride is so vast that it collides with (and in many Purāṇic tellings, pierces) that boundary, dramatizing that the avatar is not contained by the created cosmos.

How should ‘nirāloka’ be understood—hell, void, or transcendence?

‘Nirāloka’ literally means ‘without light’ and can indicate a region beyond the illumined, structured worlds—an imagistic way to speak of the extra-cosmic beyond rather than a specific naraka (hell). Contextually it marks transcendence past the cosmic enclosure.

Does this verse connect to later motifs like the Ganges descending from Vishnu’s foot?

Indirectly. Many traditions link the cosmic stride and the foot’s contact with higher realms to the emergence of sacred waters (e.g., Gaṅgā as Viṣṇupadī). This verse itself, however, focuses on the Brahmāṇḍa boundary and the ‘beyond-world’ region.