Stories From The Vamana Purana

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From the Jacket

The eighteen major Puranas are the Brahma, Padma, Visnu, Siva, Linga, Garuda, Narada, Bhagavata, Agni, Skanda, Bhavisya, Brahma-vaivarta, Markandeya, Vamana, Varaha, Matsya, Kurma and Brahmanda Puranas.

The Brahma Purana consists of ten thousand verses, the Padma Purana of fifty-five thousand, Sri Visnu Purana of twenty-three thousand, the Siva Purana of Twenty-four thousand and Srimad-Bhagavatam of eighteen thousand.

The Narada Purana has twenty-five thousand verses, the Markandeya Purana nine thousand, the Agni Purana fifteen thousand four hundred, the Bhavisya Purana fourteen thousand five hundred, the Brahma-vaivarta Purana eighteen thousand and the Linga Purana eleven thousand. The Varaha Purana contains twenty-four thousand verses, the Skanda Purana eighty-one thousand one hundred, the ‘Vamana Purana ten thousand, the Kurma Purana ten thousand, the Kurma Purana seventeen thousand, the Matsya Purana fourteen thousand, the Garuda Purana nineteen thousand and the Brahmanda Purana twelve thousand. Thus the total number of verses in all the Puranas is four hundred thousand. Eighteen thousand of these, once again, belong to the beautiful Bhagavatam.

It is known that of the eighteen major Puranas, six are for those in the mode of goodness, six are for those in the mode of passion, and six are for those in the mode of ignorance. Although there may be different opinions as to which Puranas belong to which group, Srila Prabhupada writes as follows in a purport of Sri Caitanya-caritamrta:

The Rg Veda, Yajur Veda, Sama Veda, Atharva Veda, Mahabharata, Pancaratra and original Ramayana are all considered Vedic literature. The Puranas (such as the Brahma-vaivarta Purana, Naradiya Purana, Visnu Purana and Bhagavata Purana) are especially meant for Vaisnavas and are also Vedic literature.

Back of the Book

In this book of stories from the Vamana Purana you will find many stories you had not read in other literatures, and you will find many interesting details I stories you had previously read elsewhere. Because this is the Vamana Purana, it naturally relates the history of the incarnation of Lord Vamana. In fact, the story of Lord Vamana is related several times, and each time a different aspect of the pastime is dwelt upon. Also, because the Lord appears again and again in different ages, there are differences in the descriptions of His pastimes that are interesting to note.

The Vamana Purana describes the glories of Kuruksetra at great length, showing us that it was a very prominent place of pilgrimage since time immemorial.

In this Purana the oneness of Lord Visnu and Lord Siva is stressed, and this is also the teaching of our acaryas. It is not that the two are separate personalities, because Lord Siva is an expansion of Lord Krsna. Perhaps in this Puranas this fact is not clearly presented, and therefore it certainly is not on the level of some other Puranas, especially the Bhagavatam.

Introduction

In this book of stories from the Vamana Purana you will find many stories you had not read in other literatures, and you will find many interesting details in stories you had previously read elsewhere. Because this is the Vamana Purana, it naturally relates the history of the incarnation of Lord Vamana. In fact, the story of Lord Vamana is related several times, and each time a different aspect of the pastime is dwelt upon. Also, because the Lord appears again and again in different ages, there are differences in the descriptions of His pastimes that are interesting to note.

In several places in his purports Srila Prabhupada refers to the narrations of stories in the Vamana Purana. Examples of this are:

“In the Vamana Purana the history of Maharaja Vena and his degradation are fully described. When Maharaja Prthu heard about the hellish condition of his father, Vena, who was suffering from leprosy in the family of a mleccha once brought the former king to Kuruksetra for his purification and relieved him of all sufferings.”

The Vamana Purana describes the glories of Kuruksetra at great length, showing us that it was a very prominent place of pilgrimage since time immemorial.

Here is another example of a story from the Vamana Purana referred to by Srila Prabhupada in his purports:

“According to the reading matter, either kah or arkah, there are two references in the Puranas. Kah means Brahma, who once became allured by his daughter and began to follow her, which infuriated Siva, who attached Brahma with his trident. Brahmaji fled in fear of his life. As far as arkah is concerned, there is a reference in the Vamana Purana. There was a demon by the name Vidyunmali who was gifted with a glowing golden airplane which traveled to the back of the sun, and night disappeared because of the glowing effulgence of this plane. Thus the sun-god became angry, and with his virulent rays he melted the plane. This enraged Lord Siva. Lord Siva then attached the sun-god, who fled away and at last fell down at Kasi (Varanasi), and the place became famous as Lolarka.”

Another incident related in the Vamana Purana is referred to by Gopi-paranadhana Prabhu in his commentary on Brhad-bhagavatamrta:

“This incident is recounted in a number of scriptures, including the Vamana Purana. Once Prahalada took a trip to Naimisaranya to see Lord Pitavasa, the beautiful form of the Supreme Lord. While Traveling on the road he met a strange person, who was dressed like an austere renunciant but was carrying a warrior’s bow and arrows. Prahlada assumed from this person’s contradictory attire that he must be some hypocrite abusing the true principles of religion. Therefore Prahlada started a fight with the sannyasi, vowing ‘I swear I shall defeat you!” But even after several days of dueling, Prabhlada could not subdue this adversary.

“Early one morning before resuming the battle, Prahlada worshiped his personal Deity. He then saw his opponent standing nearby, wearing the same garland he had just offered the Deity. Prahlada suddenly recognized that the strange was Lord Pitavasa, Narayana Himself. Thereupon, offering prayers to that opponent with all the competence at his command, Prahlada tried to satisfy Him. In response, the Lord touched him with His lotus hand, which relieved Prahlada from the fatigue of fighting and from all anxiety. Prahlada asked Lord Pitavasa what to do about having transgressed the duty of a ksatriya by having made a promise-namely to defeat his opponent-and not having fulfilled it. The Lord. Fully satisfied by the sport of fighting with Prahlada, told him, ‘But I am always defeated by you!”

The eighteen major Puranas are the Brahma, Padma, Visnu, Siva, Linga, Garuda, Narada, Bhagavata, Agni, Skanda, Bhavisya, Brahma-vaivarta, Markandeya, Vamana, Varaha, Matsya, Kurma and Brahmanda Puranas.

The Brahma Purana consists of ten thousand verses, the Padma Purana of fifty-five thousand, Sri Visnu Purana of twenty-three thousand, the Siva Purana of twenty-four thousand and Srimad-Bhagavatam of eighteen thousand. The Narada Purana has twenty-five thousand verses, the Markandeya Purana nine thousand, the Agni Purana fifteen thousand four hundred, the Bhavisya Purana fourteen thousand five hundred, the Brahma-vaivarta Purana eighteen thousand and the Linga Purana eleven thousand. The Varaha Purana contains twenty-four thousand verses, the Skanda Purana eighty-one thousand one hundred, the Vamana Purana ten thousand, the Kurma Purana seventeen thousand, the Matsya Purana fourteen thousand, the Garuda Purana nineteen thousand and the Brahmanda Purana twelve thousand. Thus the total number of verses in all the Puranas is four hundred thousand.

As always, I have tried to take out from the Vamana Purana whatever would be of interest to the followers of Srila Prabhupada, and leave aside the rest. There is not a great deal of wisdom in this book, but there is some and I have tried to include that as well. I hope that you will find the reading of this book to be at least a somewhat worthwhile experience.