Markandeya Purana — Adhyaya 4, Shloka 56
Adhyaya 4 — Jaimini Meets the Dharmapakshis: Four Doubts on the Mahabharata and the Opening of Narayana Doctrine
वामनादींस्तथैवान्यान् न संख्यातुमिहोत्सहे ।
अवताराश्च तस्येह माथुरः साम्प्रतं त्वयम् ॥
vāmanādīṃs tathaivānyān na saṃkhyātum ihotsahe /
avatārāś ca tasyeha māthuraḥ sāmprataṃ tvayam //
至于侏儒化身婆摩那（Vāmana）以及其他诸化现——我不敢在此一一列举。诚然，他在此世间的化身无量；而今，噢摩图罗（Māthura），你也正以当下之身立于我前。
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FAQs
The verse underscores the immeasurable scope of the divine’s manifestations: the speaker declines exhaustive listing, suggesting that avatāras are not merely a closed canon but an ongoing, context-sensitive mode of divine presence. Ethically, it cautions against reducing dharma or divinity to rigid catalogues; discernment is valued over mere enumeration.
This aligns most closely with Vaṃśānucarita (accounts of dynasties/lineages and notable figures) and, more broadly, with narrative theology that often accompanies Manvantara and Vaṃśa materials. While not a direct Sarga/Pratisarga passage, it functions as a doctrinal aside that supports Purāṇic historiography by acknowledging multiple divine interventions across eras.
Esoterically, the refusal to ‘count’ avatāras points to the infinitude (ananta) of the divine and the idea that the sacred can appear in innumerable forms according to adhikāra (fitness) and yuga-needs. Addressing the listener as ‘Māthura’ may hint at a living embodiment of sacred geography (Mathurā as a Viṣṇu/Kṛṣṇa-tīrtha), implying that avatāra is not only historical but also immediately present in the hearer’s world.