Vamana Purana — Portents at Bali's Sacrifice, Shloka 76

Portents at Bali’s Sacrifice and the Kośakāra’s Son: The Power of Past Karma

Devanagari script

साप्ययब्रवीद् दिवा व्याघ्र लोको ऽयं परिपश्यति रात्रावुद्घाटयिष्याम ततो रंस्याव स्वेच्छया

Transliteration

sāpyayabravīd divā vyāghra loko 'yaṃ paripaśyati rātrāvudghāṭayiṣyāma tato raṃsyāva svecchayā

Translation

{"syncretic_content": true, "primary_deity": "mixed", "secondary_deities": ["Shiva", "Agni"], "hari_hara_unity": null, "shakti_presence": null, "theological_tradition": "syncretic"}

Speakers

• Narrative voice (a male protagonist) reporting the woman’s speech; addressed to a sage (mune) in the surrounding frame.

Key Themes

• Secrecy and social surveillance (loka-paripaśyati)
• Nocturnal timing motif in narrative episodes
• Moral tension/temptation setting (implicit)

Verse Rasa (Emotional Flavour)

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

FAQs

Why does the speaker emphasize “by day the world is watching” (divā… lokaḥ paripaśyati)?

It signals the social-ethical frame typical of Purāṇic storytelling: actions are constrained by public scrutiny (loka), while night becomes the liminal time for concealed acts. This contrast often foreshadows either a transgression or a test of restraint.

What does vyāghra mean here—an actual tiger?

No. In vocative usage, vyāghra commonly functions as an honorific for a man—‘tiger among men,’ i.e., a brave or eminent person.

Does this verse contain any tīrtha or geographic marker typical of the Vāmana Purāṇa?

Not in this śloka. The verse is purely dialogic; any geographic anchoring (river, lake, forest, tīrtha) would have to be drawn from adjacent verses in the chapter.