Vamana Purana — Portents at Bali's Sacrifice, Shloka 36

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

Devanagari script

वर्णरूपादिसंयुक्तं यथा स्वतनयं तथा ततो विहस्य प्रोवाच कोशकारो निजां प्रियाम्

Transliteration

varṇarūpādisaṃyuktaṃ yathā svatanayaṃ tathā tato vihasya provāca kośakāro nijāṃ priyām

Translation

เมื่อเห็นเด็กนั้นประกอบด้วยผิวพรรณ รูปโฉม และลักษณะอื่น ๆ ดุจบุตรของตนเอง โกศการะจึงยิ้มแล้วกล่าวแก่ภรรยาผู้เป็นที่รัก

Speakers

• Narrator voice; the kośakāra (husband) is about to speak to his wife.

Key Themes

• Recognition/acceptance of the child
• Social setting (artisan household) within a tīrtha-māhātmya frame
• Adbhuta presented as auspicious rather than threatening

Verse Rasa (Emotional Flavour)

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

FAQs

Who is the “kośakāra,” and why is this occupational label important?

Kośakāra denotes an artisan associated with making a ‘kośa’ (sheath/container; in some contexts linked to weaving or cocoon-related work). Purāṇas often embed tīrtha narratives among diverse social groups, implying the tīrtha’s grace is not limited by varṇa or profession.

What is conveyed by “varṇarūpādisaṃyuktaṃ … yathā svatanayam”?

It stresses normalcy and legitimacy: the infant bears recognizable human features and resembles a natural son, which softens the earlier fear and prepares for a revelation that the extraordinary may appear in ordinary form.

How does this verse serve the geography-centered purpose of the Vāmana Purāṇa?

Such domestic vignettes typically function as etiological frames: a later event (boon, curse, miracle, or rite) becomes the reason a specific place is declared a tīrtha or gains a particular merit (phala). The explicit place-name data, however, is not present in this specific śloka.