Vamana Purana — Vamana's Birth, Shloka 48

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

Devanagari script

एवं कृतोपनयनो भगवान् भूतभावनः संस्तूयमानो ऋषिभिः साङ्गं वेदमधीयत

Transliteration

evaṃ kṛtopanayano bhagavān bhūtabhāvanaḥ saṃstūyamāno ṛṣibhiḥ sāṅgaṃ vedamadhīyata

Translation

{"has_teaching": true, "teaching_type": "dharma", "core_concept": "Śruti-śikṣā as foundation for lokācāra (right conduct)", "teaching_summary": "The verse frames Vedic study—especially Sāmaveda with its great chants and narratives—as a dharmic preparation, sanctified by celestial musicians (Gandharvas) who embody perfected musical recitation.", "vedantic_theme": "Authority of śruti and disciplined learning as a means to align individual life with ṛta/dharma.", "practical_application": "Cultivate daily recitation/study with correct intonation and ethical intent; treat learning as service to social order."}

Speakers

• Narratorial voice (Purāṇic narrator) describing Bhagavān; interlocutors not specified in the provided excerpt.

Primary Deities

• Vishnu (Bhagavān)

Key Themes

• Dharma of Vedic initiation
• Ideal of divine humility (Lord adopting brahmacarya discipline)
• Authority of Veda and Vedāṅgas
• Sage praise (stuti in narrative form)

Verse Rasa (Emotional Flavour)

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

FAQs

Why does the text emphasize the Lord’s upanayana and Vedic study?

It presents Bhagavān as the archetype of dharma: even as supreme, he models the social-religious discipline of brahmacarya and the authority of śruti, legitimizing Vedic learning as a sacred norm.

What does ‘sāṅgaṃ vedaṃ’ imply in Purāṇic usage?

It indicates not only recitation of the Veda but mastery supported by the Vedāṅgas (auxiliaries such as phonetics, ritual, grammar, etymology, meter, and astronomy), i.e., complete traditional competence.

Is this a stuti (hymn) verse or narrative prose in meter?

It is narrative in śloka meter but includes a stuti element (‘being praised by sages’), showing that praise accompanies and authorizes the Lord’s dharmic acts.