The Vamana-Purana (Set of 2 Volumes)

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Part I

Introduction

Vamana is assigned fourteenth position in the list of eighteen Mahapuranas or major Puranic texts, preceded by Skanda and succeeded by Kurma. It gets its name after Vamana or the dwarf incarnation of God Visnu, which is the first human incarnation preceded by the "Fish", "Tortoise", "Boar" and "Man-Lion" incarnations that can, by the way, be seen as corresponding to the earlier stages of the evolution of life on the earth, the main purpose of the Purana being a description of the legend of the demon Bali, grandson of Prahlada, the Visnu devotee par excellence, suffering a great discomfiture due to a very tactful manoeuvre resorted by God Visnu as the dwarf.

The extant text of Vamana has 95 chapters and approximately 6,000 slokas, though Bhagavata and some other Puranas state that Vamana had an Uttarabhaga also containing four Samhitas of 1000 slokas each, which, however, has not been discovered so far.

Pulastya and Narada are the interlocutors of the Purana. In the beginning Narada questions Pulastya about the assumption of the form of Vamana by Visnu, waging of war by Prahlada against gods, Sari's agreement to be the wife of Siva, Satr's self-immolation at the yajna of Daksa and her being reborn as the daughter of Himalaya with a desire of becoming the spouse of Sankara, the glory of the places of pilgrimage, account of dana, vrata, upasarui, etc.

As the title indicates, this Purana has mainly a Vaisnava theme but Saiva material also forms an integral part of it, e.g. Siva's killing 'of the demon Andhaka, marriage of Siva and Parvati, birth of Ganesa and Karttikeya, defeat of Mahisasura by Devi, glorification of Sivalingas and their installation.

The legends, stories and episodes included in this Purana are generally of the same type as found in other Puranas. Here we may call attention to some noteworthy features of the Purdna; One is that it was composed in the Kuruksetra region of North India, to the glorification of which it gives special attention, particularly to the tirthas, rivers, hills and other geographical features of the area.

Secondly, the Purana gives equal prominence to Vaisnavism and Pasupata Saiva-sect in its description and exhibits a spirit of tolerance and magnanimity in its treatment of both, as is evidenced in its representation of Siva as saying, "Even if you cut me into twain, you will find the presence of Visnu in my heart" (67.37), and of Visnu as telling the Devas, "Siva is present here in my heart in the form of Linga where you may worship him" (62.21-23).

Thirdly, a very much noteworthy feature of this Purana is the preponderance of the asura motif. No other Purana gives the accounts of so many asura heroes in so liberal and zestful manner as this Purana does. So many asuras are represented in an edifying way as following the ideals of Dharma, righteousness, e.g. Prahlada, a great devotee of Visnu and his grandson Bali who, despite the warning given by the preceptor Sukracarya, prominently exhibits the spirit of a liberal donor and quite unmindful of his personal interest ungrudgingly accepts underworld status to which he is reduced by God Visnu. Perhaps one of the reasons is that the narrator of the Purana is Pulastya, the grandfather of demon Ravana.

As to the date of the Purana, it was some time between 5th and 10th centuries CE, probably the first half of the seventh century CE when Harsavardhana was the king in North and Mahendravarman Pallava in the South, when the assimilative spirit, religious tolerance and the intellectual fertility characterising the Gupta Age permeated the society.

As to the contents of the Purana; it is found that in addition to the legends, myths, stories, etc. of the gods, asuras, rsis, etc. which belong to the Puranas generally Vamana is rich in the description of pilgrimage centres, i.e. tirthas, in the stotras or eulogies to the gods, geographical materials, description of the mountains, rivers, Janapadas, etc. Here we make a brief survey of more interesting items of the contents-

Chapter 6 mentions four schools of Saivism, viz. Saiva, Pasupata, Kaladamana and Kapalika. The Kaladamana sect is better known by the name Kalamukha:

Chapter 7 has a short inset showing the birth of the nymph Urvasi from the thigh of Narayana, the rsis who together with another one, Nara, was performing penance in Himalayas.

Chapter 9 describes the vehicles of the different gods as follows:

Twelve kinds of dharmas are described in chapter 11 including that of humans in whose case it is self-study of Vedas, Brahmacarya, Dana, Yajna, Compassion, etc. and devotion to Visnu, Siva, Surya and_ Devi. The seven continents (Dvipas) of the Earth are also described,' the seventh, Puskara Dvipa, contains 21 hells (narakas).

Contents

Part II

Contents