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2024-04-27, 3:53 AM |
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Chapter
18: Lord
Vâmanadeva,
the
Dwarf
Incarnation
(1) S'rî S'uka said: 'The Eternal Being, He
with the conch, the club, the lotus and the disc in His four hands, the
yellow dress and the lotus petal eyes, He whose heroic acts are praised
by Brahmâ, consequently manifested Himself from Aditi. (2) He with a pure, blackish complexion, the luster
of two earrings in the form of sharks and a dazzling lotus face, was
the Supreme Personality marked by the S'rîvatsa mark on His chest
and wearing bracelets and armlets, a shining helmet, a belt, a sacred
thread and charming ankle bells. (3)
With a swarm of sweetness seeking humming bees around Him and carrying
an extraordinarily beautiful flower garland and the Kaustubha gem around His neck, the Lord vanquished
the darkness of Kas'yapa's house with His effulgence. (4) At that
moment everywhere one was filled
with happiness, all living beings in the waters, in the
mountains, in the higher worlds, in outer space and on earth. There was
the full quality of each season and all the cows, the tongues of the
fire and the twice-born ones were at their best. (5) When
the Lord took His birth it was a most auspicious moment: all the planets and stars, the sun and moon
stood in a favorable position. It
happened on Dvâdas'î [the twelfth day of the bright fortnight of
Bhâdra] at noon [Abhijit] when the
moon
was
in
the
house
of
S'ravana. (6) Oh
King, this exact moment of the appearance of the Lord at Dvâdas'î
with
the
sun over the meridian, is the day the scholars call
Vijayâ. (7) The
loud sounds of the different
conches, drums, kettledrums, panavas, ânakas [other drums] and
other
instruments that were vibrated, became a great tumult. (8)
The heavenly dancing girls
danced blissfully, the
leading celestial singers
sang
and the sages, the demigods, the
fathers of mankind, the ancestors and the fire gods all pleased the
Lord with prayers. (9-10) The perfected ones, the ones
of knowledge, the apelike ones [the warriors of Râma], the ones
of superpower, the venerable ones, the treasure keepers, the
benevolent ones, the reciters [the 'brothers
of Garuda'], the greatest experts [the 'snakes'] and all the followers
of the demigods, glorifying, dancing and praising covered the residence
of Aditi with flow
[compare 6.7: 2-8 and 5.5: 21-22]. (11) When
Aditi saw Him,
the Supreme
Personality of Godhead who had been conceived in happiness and had
taken birth from her womb, she was struck with wonder about the fact
that He from His own spiritual potency had assumed a body. Also
Kas'yapa greatly amazed about it
exclaimed: 'All glory! [jaya!]'
(12) The Lord's body complete with ornaments
and weapons cannot be seen materially but for the divine purpose it
was
manifested by Him acting like an actor in a theater and could be seen in the form of a dwarf boy
[Vâmana]. (13) Seeing
Him as a brahmacârî dwarf made the great rishis
very happy and thus they performed, with the founding father Kas'yapa
as their lead, all the ceremonies [like the jâta-karma
birthday ceremony]. (14) At
His sacred thread
ceremony the sun god chanted the Gâyatrî mantra [see note**
at
5.7], Brihaspati
gave
the sacred
thread and Kas'yapa offered Him
a belt [of straw, signifying the
twice-born status]. (15) Mother
earth offered Him a deerskin, the moon god ruling the forest gave Him a
staff, Aditi gave Him underwear to cover His body and from the ruler of heaven [Indra] the master
of the universe
He received a parasol. (16) The
Knower Inside [Brahmâ] gave a waterpot, the seven sages
donated kus'a grass and the goddess Sarasvatî gave the
Imperishable Soul a string of rudrâksha beads oh King. (17) Thus
having received His
sacred thread, the Ruler of the
Yakshas [Kuvera, the treasurer of heaven] delivered a
pot for begging alms and Umâ,
the chaste mother of the
universe, the wife of S'iva,
personally provided the alms. (18) He as a brahmacârî thus
being welcomed by everyone, outshone with his
brahmin effulgence as the best
of them the entire assembly that enjoyed the grace of all the great
brahmin sages. (19) After
kindling a fire as should, He like
the
best
of
the
brahmins strew [the kus'a grass] around it and fed the fire
of worship with wood.
(20) As soon
as He heard about the glory of Bali as someone who under the guidance of Bhrigu brahmins
performs horse sacrifices, He
headed for the location where they took place and with each step that
He as the Complete and Fully
Endowed Essence made on His way,
He therewith imprinted the earth with His footsteps. (21) At
the northern bank of the Narmadâ
river
in the field of Bhrigukaccha where all the priests of
Bhrigu were performing their rituals for the sake of the ultimate
ceremony [the horse sacrifice], they saw Him in their presence
[radiating] like
the risen sun. (22) The
priests
as also Bali, the instigator of the yajña and all who
had assembled there, were overshadowed by Lord Vâmana's
splendor oh King and wondered whether they saw the sun rising, the
god of fire or Sanat-kumâra who wanted to attend their ceremony. (23) While
the Bhrigus thus with
their
disciples were disputing in various ways, the Supreme Lord Vâmana
with
in His hands His umbrella, rod and kamandalu filled with water,
entered the arena of the As'vamedha sacrifice. (24-25) The moment Vâmana, the learned, seemingly
human child that was the Lord, with His munja belt of straw
and the sacred thread around His waist, His deerskin upper garment and
His matted
locks of hair, arrived there and was seen by the priests of Bhrigu with
their
disciples, they all stood up from
their
engagement
in
the
fire
sacrifice
and
appropriately
welcomed
the One who with His
brilliance outshone them all. (26) The
instigator of the sacrifice, delighted to see Him so beautiful in each
of His lustrous limbs,
offered Him a seat. (27) The Beauty of the Liberated Souls was thereupon with words of
welcome worshiped by Bali
Mahârâja who honored Him by washing His feet. (28) The
water washing from His feet washes away the sins of
all people. Bali knew the dharma and placed on his head the
all-auspicious water that also
the god of
gods,
Lord S'iva who is marked with the emblem of the moon, in his supreme
devotion
had
accepted
on His head.'
(29) S'rî Bali
said: 'We welcome You. My obeisances unto You, oh brahmin. What can
we do for You? Oh noble soul, in my opinion You are the austerity of the
brahmin seers in person. (30) The
arrival of Your lordship today at
our residence, satisfies all our
forefathers, it purifies the entire family
and completes the sacrifice we are performing now! (31) Today
oh brahmin
son, my fires of sacrifice are properly served according to the
injunctions. Oh, by the water that washed from Your lotus feet all my
sins are destroyed and by
Your small feet the earth is purified. (32) Whatever
it
is
that
You
desire
oh brahmacârî, You may take from
me, be it a cow, gold, a furnished residence, palatable food and drink
or else a brahmin's daughter, prospering villages, horses, elephants or
chariots oh best of the worshipable ones. As far as I am concerned You
may have whatever You wish.'
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