View source for Vamana

{{short description|Dwarf avatar of Vishnu}}
{{Distinguish|Vimana}}
{{redirect|Trivikrama|the 2022 film|Trivikrama (film)}}
{{about|an avatar of Hindu god Vishnu|the medieval grammarian|Kāśikāvṛttī|Ayurveda procedure|Vamana (Panchakarma)}}
{{Infobox deity<!--Wikipedia:WikiProject Hindu mythology-->
| type = Hindu
| image = File:Vamana — Raja Ravi Varma.jpg
| member_of = [[Dashavatara]]
| caption = Vamana Avatar by [[Raja Ravi Varma]]
| name = Vamana
| affiliation = [[Vaishnavism]]
| weapon = 
| abode = [[Vaikuntha]], [[Patala#Sutala|Satala]]
| mantra = ''Om Trivikramaya vidmahe<br />Vishvarupaya cha dhimahi<br />Tanno Vamana prachodayat''
| consort = [[kamalatmika|Kamala]]
| god_of = 
| children = Brhatsloka ('Great Praise')
| symbols = Round and small [[shaligrama]] stone
| festivals = [[Onam]], [[Balipratipada]], Vamana Dvadashi
| mother = [[Aditi]]
| father = [[Kashyapa]]
| siblings = [[Indra]] and the [[Adityas]]
| symbol = [[Kamandalu]] and umbrella
}}
{{Infobox royalty
| name         = [[Dashavatara]] Sequence
| predecessor  = [[Narasimha]]
| successor    = [[Parashurama]]
}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=March 2016}}
{{Use Indian English|date=March 2016}}

'''Vamana''' ({{Langx|sa|वामन|lit=Dwarf}}, {{IAST3|Vāmana}}),<ref name=":8">{{Cite web|url=https://spokensanskrit.org/index.php?mode=3&script=hk&tran_input=vamana&direct=au&anz=100|title=Sanskrit Dictionary for Spoken Sanskrit: 'Vamana'|website=spokensanskrit.org|access-date=2020-02-19}}{{Dead link|date=July 2025 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref><!--Do not remove, WP:INDICSCRIPT doesn't apply to WikiProject Hinduism--> also known as '''Trivikrama''' ({{lit|three steps}}),<ref name=":0">{{Cite web|url=https://spokensanskrit.org/index.php?tran_input=trivikrama&direct=se&script=hk&link=yes&mode=3|title=Sanskrit Dictionary for Spoken Sanskrit: 'Trivikrama'|website=spokensanskrit.org|access-date=2020-02-18}}{{Dead link|date=July 2025 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> '''Urukrama''' ({{lit|far-stepping}}),<ref name=":12">{{Cite web|url=https://spokensanskrit.org/index.php?mode=3&script=hk&tran_input=Urukrama&direct=se&anz=100|title=Sanskrit Dictionary for Spoken Sanskrit: 'Urukrama'|website=spokensanskrit.org|access-date=2020-03-10}}{{Dead link|date=July 2025 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> '''Upendra''' ({{lit|Indra’s younger brother}}),<ref name=":1">{{Cite web|url=https://faculty.washington.edu/prem/mw/u.html|title=Monier-Williams Sanskrit-English Dictionary: 'Upendra'|website=faculty.washington.edu|access-date=2020-02-18|archive-date=3 June 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200603132006/http://faculty.washington.edu/prem/mw/u.html|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref name=":3">{{Cite web|url=https://spokensanskrit.org/index.php?mode=3&script=hk&tran_input=Upendra&direct=se&anz=100|title=Sanskrit Dictionary for Spoken Sanskrit: 'Upendra'|website=spokensanskrit.org|access-date=2020-02-18}}{{Dead link|date=July 2025 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> '''Dadhivamana''' ({{Langx|sa|दधिवामन|lit=milk-dwarf}}, {{IAST3|Dadhivāmana}}),<ref>{{Cite web |last=www.wisdomlib.org |date=2018-06-13 |title=Dadhivamana, Dadhivāmana, Dadhi-vamana: 4 definitions |url=https://www.wisdomlib.org/definition/dadhivamana |access-date=2022-11-27 |website=www.wisdomlib.org |language=en}}</ref> and '''Balibandhana''' ({{lit|binder or killer of Bali}}),<ref name=":10">{{Cite web|url=https://faculty.washington.edu/prem/mw/b.html|title=Monier-Williams Sanskrit-English Dictionary: 'balibandhana'|website=faculty.washington.edu|access-date=2020-02-22|archive-date=25 March 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180325053343/http://faculty.washington.edu/prem/mw/b.html|url-status=dead}}</ref> is an [[Dashavatara|avatar]] of the [[Hinduism|Hindu]] deity [[Vishnu]].<ref>{{Cite book|last=Vaswani|first=J. P.|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=eSNADwAAQBAJ&q=Matsya&pg=PT13|title=Dasavatara|date=2017-12-22|publisher=Jaico Publishing House|isbn=978-93-86867-18-6|pages=12–14|language=en}}</ref> He is the fifth avatar of Vishnu and the first [[Dashavatara]] in the [[Treta Yuga]], after [[Narasimha]].<ref>{{Cite book|last=Ph.D|first=James G. Lochtefeld|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5kl0DYIjUPgC&q=avatar&pg=PA175|title=The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Hinduism, Volume 1|date=2001-12-15|publisher=The Rosen Publishing Group, Inc|isbn=978-0-8239-3179-8|pages=[https://books.google.com/books?id=5kl0DYIjUPgC&q=avatar&pg=PA175 175]|language=en}}</ref>

First mentioned in the [[Vedas]], Vamana is most commonly associated in the [[Hindu epics]] and [[Puranas]] with the story of taking back the three worlds (collectively referred to as the [[Trailokya]])<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://faculty.washington.edu/prem/mw/t.html|title=Monier-Williams Sanskrit-English Dictionary: 'Triloka'|website=faculty.washington.edu|access-date=2020-02-19|archive-date=6 August 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200806164417/http://faculty.washington.edu/prem/mw/t.html|url-status=dead}}</ref> from the [[daitya]]-king [[Mahabali]] by taking three steps to restore the cosmic order and push Mahabali into the netherworld.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Kalidasan |first=Vinod Kottayil |date=2015-04-01 |title=A king lost and found: Revisiting the popular and the tribal myths of Mahabali from Kerala |url=https://intellectdiscover.com/content/journals/10.1386/safm.7.1-2.103_1 |journal=Studies in South Asian Film & Media |language=en |volume=7 |issue=1–2 |pages=103–118 |doi=10.1386/safm.7.1-2.103_1 |issn=1756-4921|url-access=subscription }}</ref> He is the youngest among the [[adityas]], the sons of [[Aditi]] and the sage [[Kashyapa]].

== Nomenclature and etymology ==
'''<nowiki/>'Vāmana'''' (Sanskrit वामन) means 'dwarf', 'small' or 'small or short in stature'. It also means 'dwarfish bull',<ref name=":8" /> which is notable as [[Vishnu]] is directly associated with dwarfish animals (including bulls) in the [[Vedas]] (see below). Stated in [[Puranic]] literature to be born of the great sage [[Kashyapa]] and his wife [[Aditi]], other names or [[epithet]]s referring to Vamana include:
{| class="wikitable"
!Name
!Sanskrit
!Meaning / Description
|-
|'''<nowiki/>'Balibandhana'''' or '''<nowiki/>'Balibandhanakrt''''
|बलिबन्धन
|'binder or killer of [[Mahabali|Bali]]';<ref name=":10" /> stated in the [[Garuda Purana]] to mean 'who fettered the demon [[Mahabali|Bali]]' (see below).
|-
|'''<nowiki/>'Dadhi-vamana''''
|दधिवामन
|'bestowing', 'giving', 'curd' / 'curdled milk' (regarded as a remedy),<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://faculty.washington.edu/prem/mw/d.html|title=Monier-Williams Sanskrit-English Dictionary: 'Dadhi'|website=faculty.washington.edu|access-date=2020-02-18|archive-date=28 June 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200628211210/http://faculty.washington.edu/prem/mw/d.html|url-status=dead}}</ref> and '[[Shorea robusta|resin of Shala tree]]' (apparently sacred and favoured by [[Vishnu]]; used for [[incense]], in [[Ayurvedic]] medicine, to build dwellings, and to [[caulk]] boats).<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://spokensanskrit.org/index.php?mode=3&script=hk&tran_input=+dadhi&direct=se&anz=100|title=Sanskrit Dictionary for Spoken Sanskrit: 'Dadhi'|website=spokensanskrit.org|access-date=2020-02-18}}{{Dead link|date=October 2025 |bot=InternetArchiveBot }}</ref>
|-
|'''<nowiki/>'Trivikrama''''
|त्रिविक्रम
|'three steps' or 'three strides' (''tri'' 'three' + ''vikrama'' 'step' or 'stride').'''<ref name=":0" />'''<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://spokensanskrit.org/index.php?mode=3&script=hk&tran_input=vikrama&direct=se&anz=100|title=Sanskrit Dictionary for Spoken Sanskrit: 'vikrama'|website=spokensanskrit.org|access-date=2020-02-19}}{{Dead link|date=October 2025 |bot=InternetArchiveBot }}</ref> This epithet refers to the three steps or strides of Vishnu in the [[Rigveda]].
|-
|'''<nowiki/>'Urukrama''''
|उरुक्रम
|'far stepping' or 'wide stride', presumably in relation to covering all existence with the second step (e.g. [[Skanda Purana]] 1.19.42).<ref name=":12" />
|-
|'''<nowiki/>'Upendra''''
|उपेन्द्र
|'younger brother of [[Indra]]' or simply 'a son'.<ref name=":1" /><ref name=":3" /> This epithet refers to the birth of the Dwarf Avatar as one of the 12 [[adityas]] - sons - of [[Aditi]] and the sage [[Kashyapa]] (i.e. along with Indra).
|-
|'''<nowiki/>'Vāmanadeva''''
|वामनदेव
|'dwarf-god' (v''amana'' 'dwarf' + [[Deva (Hinduism)|''deva'']] 'god').
|}

== Legend ==
{{Vaishnavism}}{{Hindu scriptures and texts}}After [[Indra]] (The king of the [[Deva (Hinduism)|devas]], the son of [[Kashyapa]] and [[Aditi]]) is defeated by the [[daitya]] called [[Mahabali|Bali]], the king of the [[asura]]s, the great-great grandson of Kashyapa and [[Diti]], the [[Deva (Hinduism)|devas]] ultimately seek refuge in [[Vishnu]], who agrees to restore Indra to power. To do so, Vishnu incarnates as Vamana (the son of Kashyapa and Aditi )

Mahabali decided to perform a grand Ashwamedha [[Yagna]] (horse sacrifice ritual) at a place called Bhrigukachaka on the northern bank of the Narmada River.
 
Vamana come there, who requests only three feet (steps) of land (usually to build a [[Vedi (altar)|fire-altar]]). Bali agrees, despite being warned about Vamana's true nature as Vishnu (usually by his preceptor, the sage [[Shukra]], the son of [[Bhrigu]] ). 

Vamana grew as Trivikrama. With one foot, he measured the entire Earth and the nether worlds, and with the other foot, he measured the sky and the upper worlds.

He looked at King Bali and asked where the third step should land.
Determined to keep his word, King Bali told Vamana to place the third step on his head.Upon hearing this, Lord Vishnu appeared in his true form and blessed King Bali and allowed him to rule the underworld.
So Bali went to [[ Pathala ]]
the netherworld. Due to the Vamana incarnation of Lord Vishnu, Indra and other gods retained Amaravati.
<ref>{{Cite web |last=www.wisdomlib.org |date=2019-01-28 |title=Story of Vāmana |url=https://www.wisdomlib.org/hinduism/compilation/puranic-encyclopaedia/d/doc242041.html |access-date=2022-11-27 |website=www.wisdomlib.org |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last1=Cole |first1=Owen |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Mt_itliEnRQC&dq=vamana+avatar+legend&pg=PT30 |title=Hinduism - An Introduction |last2=Kanit |first2=V. P. Hermant |date=2010-06-25 |publisher=John Murray Press |isbn=978-1-4441-3100-0 |pages=30 |language=en}}</ref>

== Symbolism ==
[[File:Twilight description full day.svg|left|thumb|Positions of the [[Sun]] during the day]]A. A. Macdonell states that the 'reason why Visnu took his three steps is a secondary trait. He thrice traversed the earthly spaces for man in distress (6, 49); he traversed the earth to bestow it on man for a dwelling (7, 100); he traversed the earthly spaces for wide-stepping existence (1, 155); with [[Indra]] he took vast strides and stretched out the worlds for our existence (6, 69). This feature in the [<nowiki/>[[Rigveda]]] may ultimately be traced to the myth of Vishnu's dwarf incarnation which appears in the [[Itihasa|epics]] and [[Puranas]]. The intermediate stage is found in the [[Brahmana]]s ([<nowiki/>[[Shatapatha Brahmana]]] 1, 2, 5;<ref>{{Cite web |title=Satapatha Brahmana Part 1 (SBE12): First Kânda: I, 2. 5. Fifth Brāhmana |url=https://www.sacred-texts.com/hin/sbr/sbe12/sbe1211.htm |access-date=2020-03-17 |website=www.sacred-texts.com}}</ref> [Taittiriya [[Samhita]]] 2, 1, 3;<ref name="sacred-texts_yv02">{{Cite web |title=Yajur Veda Kanda II |url=https://www.sacred-texts.com/hin/yv/yv02.htm |access-date=2020-03-17 |website=www.sacred-texts.com}}</ref> [<nowiki/>[[Taittiriya Brahmana]]] 1, 6, 1), where Vishnu takes the form of a dwarf, to reclaim the earth for the devas by means of sacrifice.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Macdonell |first=A. A. |url=http://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.47343 |title=Vedic Mythology |date=1897 |pages=38}}</ref>'''The three points in sun's course:''' Roy states that '[[Vishnu]]'s three strides alluded to in the [[Rigveda]] have been variously interpreted as symbolizing the three different positions of the [[sun]] at its rising, peak and setting.

'''The three worlds and the three planes:''' J. Muir mentions [[Sayana]]s take on the three steps of Vishnu found the White [[Yajurveda]] (5.15). 'Vishnu, becoming incarnate as Trivikrama (the god who stepped thrice), strode over the whole universe. The same idea is expressed by the [[Rishi]]s, "In three places he planted his step, (one step on the earth, a second in the atmosphere, and a third in the sky) as [[Agni]], [[Vayu]], and [[Surya]] each after the other".<ref name=":16" /> Agni (Fire) is found on the ground, Vayu (Air) prevades the atmosphere and Surya(Sun) high in the dome of sky, thus the three steps symbolise the three planes, the ground below, air in between, and the sky above.
[[File:Yajna1.jpg|thumb|A [[yajna]]]]

'''Three states of sleep and wakefulness''': S. Chanda states the three strides symbolize the three states of existence – [[Jagrat]] (Awake), [[Swapna (philosophy)|Swapna]] (Dream Sleep) and ''sushupti'' (Deep Sleep). The final step of Vamana is on the head of Bali which symbolizes [[Moksha|Liberation]] and the transcendence of these states.<ref name="Chandra">{{cite book|last=Chandra|first=Suresh|title=Encyclopaedia of Hindu Gods and Goddesses|publisher=Kindle Edition|year=2012}}</ref>

=== Nirukta ===
Written by the [[grammar]]ian [[Yaska]], [[Nirukta]] is one of the six [[Vedanga]]s or 'limbs of the [[Vedas]]', concerned with correct [[etymology]] and interpretation of the Vedas. The entry for Vishnu (relating to the [[Rigveda]]) states (square brackets '[ ]' are as per the original author):

{{blockquote|<poem>[[Vishnu]] strode over this (Universe). Thrice he planted his foot, enveloped in dust.

Vishnu strides over this and all that exists. Thrice he plants his foot, [for threefold existence].'On earth, in the intermediate space, and in heaven, says [[Sakapuni]]. 'On the mountain of sunrise, on the meridian, and on the mountain of sunset' says [[Aurnavabha]].

Enveloped in his [dust], i. e. the footprint is not visible in the stormy atmosphere. Or it is used in a metaphorical sense, i.e. his footstep is not visible, as if enveloped in a dusty place. Pdmsavah (Dust) is (so called) because it is produced (√su) by feet (pddaih) or else it lies scattered on the ground, or it is trodden down.</poem>|source=The Nighantu and the Nirukta, translated by Lakshman Sarup (1967), Chapter 12, Section 19<ref>{{Cite book|url=http://archive.org/details/nighantuniruktao00yaskuoft|title=The Nighantu and the Nirukta|last1=Yaska|last2=Sarup|first2=Lakshman|date=1967|publisher=Delhi Motilal Banarsidass|others=Robarts – University of Toronto|pages=190–191}}</ref>|author=|title=}}

This account essentially states that the three footsteps may symbolise the positions of the sun or physical existence conceptualised as 'three worlds'. In regard to the references to Sakapuni and Aurnavabha, K. S. Murty states that 'Yaska was not the first to interpret Vedic words as he did. He referred to a [[Nighantu]] with Samamnaya which he cited and explained. He had predecessors like Sakapuru, Audumbarayana, [[Aupamanyava]] and others'.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Murty|first=K. Satchidananda|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=nErhXnbCk3AC&q=Sakapuni&pg=PA12|title=Vedic Hermeneutics|date=1993|publisher=Motilal Banarsidass Publ.|isbn=978-81-208-1105-8|pages=12|language=en}}</ref>

== Vedas ==
=== Rigveda ===
{| class="wikitable"
! rowspan="3" |[[Rigveda|Rig]]
! colspan="2" |References
!Notes
|-
|[[Samhita]] (Mandala Krama)
|'''Vishnu (steps):''' 1.22,<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.sacred-texts.com/hin/rigveda/rv01022.htm|title=Rig Veda: Rig-Veda Book 1: HYMN XXII. Aśvins and Others|website=www.sacred-texts.com|access-date=2020-01-19}}</ref> 1.154,<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.sacred-texts.com/hin/rigveda/rv01154.htm|title=Rig Veda: Rig-Veda Book 1: HYMN CLIV. Viṣṇu|website=www.sacred-texts.com|access-date=2020-01-19}}</ref> 6.69,<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.sacred-texts.com/hin/rigveda/rv06069.htm|title=Rig Veda: Rig-Veda, Book 6: HYMN LXIX. Indra-Viṣṇu|website=www.sacred-texts.com|access-date=2020-01-20}}</ref> 7.99,<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.sacred-texts.com/hin/rigveda/rv07099.htm|title=Rig Veda: Rig-Veda, Book 7: HYMN XCIX. Viṣṇu.|website=www.sacred-texts.com|access-date=2020-01-21}}</ref> 7.100;<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.sacred-texts.com/hin/rigveda/rv07100.htm|title=Rig Veda: Rig-Veda, Book 7: HYMN C. Viṣṇu.|website=www.sacred-texts.com|access-date=2020-01-21}}</ref> '''Bali (tribute):''' 5.1.10,<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.sacred-texts.com/hin/rigveda/rv05001.htm|title=Rig Veda: Rig-Veda, Book 5: HYMN I. Agni|website=www.sacred-texts.com|access-date=2020-02-19}}</ref> 7.6.5;<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.sacred-texts.com/hin/rigveda/rv07006.htm|title=Rig Veda: Rig-Veda, Book 7: HYMN VI. Agni.|website=www.sacred-texts.com|access-date=2020-02-19}}</ref> '''Brhaspati / Vrihaspati:''' 4.50<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.sacred-texts.com/hin/rigveda/rv04050.htm|title=Rig Veda: Rig-Veda, Book 4: HYMN L. Bṛhaspati.|website=www.sacred-texts.com|access-date=2020-02-19}}</ref>
|
|-
|[[Aitareya Brahmana]]
|'''Vishnu:''' 1.1.3, 3.2.18, 3.3.32, 6.3.15; '''Bali (tribute):''' 7.5.29<ref>{{Cite book|url=http://archive.org/details/aitareyabrahmana04hauguoft|title=The Aitareya Brahmanam of the Rigveda|last=Haug|first=Martin|date=1922|publisher=Bahadurganj, Allahabad Sudhindra Nath Vasu|others=Robarts – University of Toronto}}</ref>
|
|}

==== Samhita ====
{{Verse translation|ato devā avantu no yato viṣṇurvicakrame {{!}}
pṛthivyāḥ saptadhāmabhiḥ {{!}}{{!}}

idaṃ viṣṇurvi cakrame tredhā ni dadhe padam {{!}}
samūḷhamasya pāṃsure {{!}}{{!}}

trīṇi padā vi cakrame viṣṇurghopā '''adābhyaḥ''' {{!}}
ato dharmāṇi dhārayan {{!}}{{!}}|The Gods be gracious unto us even from the place whence [[Vishnu]] strode
Through the seven regions of the earth!

Through all this world strode Vishnu; thrice his foot he planted, and the whole
Was gathered in his footstep's dust.

Vishnu, the Guardian, he whom '''none deceiveth''', made three steps; thenceforth
Establishing his high decrees.|lang=en|attr1=RigVeda [[transliteration]] of Book 1, Hymn 22, Verses 16-18<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.sacred-texts.com/hin/rvsan/rv01022.htm|title=RigVeda Book I XXI 'Aśvins and Others' (Sanskrit and Transliteration)|website=www.sacred-texts.com|access-date=2020-01-19}}</ref>|attr2=RigVeda [[translation]] by Ralph T.H. Griffith (1896) of Book 1, Hymn 22, Verses 16–18<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.sacred-texts.com/hin/rigveda/rv01022.htm|title=RigVeda Book I XXI 'Aśvins and Others'|website=www.sacred-texts.com|access-date=2020-01-19}}</ref>}}

[[File:1500-1200 BCE Rigveda, manuscript page sample ii, Sanskrit, Devanagari.jpg|left|thumb|[[Rigveda]] page in [[Sanskrit]]]]
Roy states that the [[Rigvedic]] passages referring to [[Vishnu]]'s three strides are obviously the nucleus, out of which the legend of the Dwarf was created. But the Rigveda, however, does not describe Vishnu as dwarf or ''Vamana''<nowiki/>'.<ref name=":15">{{Cite book |last=Roy |first=Janmajit |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=lr9pFQPwhXYC&q=dwarf&pg=PA95 |title=Theory of Avatāra and Divinity of Chaitanya |date=2002 |publisher=Atlantic Publishers & Dist |isbn=978-81-269-0169-2 |pages=24, 102 |language=en}}</ref> W. J. Wilkins agrees, stating that in regard to the Vishnu strides of the Rigveda, 'in these verses there is probably the germ of the Dwarf Incarnation'.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Wilkins|first=W. J.|url=http://archive.org/details/HinduMythology|title=Hindu Mythology|date=1913|pages=126–127}}</ref>

In regard to the above-quoted verses, it is commonly accepted that there are [[Continent|Seven Continents]] or 'regions of the earth'. A. Glucklich adds that 'In the [[Matsya Purana]], for instance, there is a seven-part map of the world ... [it has] one centre, where an immense mountain – [[Mount Meru]] (or Maha Meru, Great Meru) – stands ... The continents encircle the mountain in seven concentric circles ... It seems clear that the Himalayas were the approximate location of Mt. Meru'.<ref name=":9">{{Cite book|last=Glucklich|first=Ariel|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=KtLScrjrWiAC&q=vishnu+seven+strides+seven+continents&pg=PA153|title=The Strides of Vishnu: Hindu Culture in Historical Perspective|date=2008-05-09|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=978-0-19-971825-2|pages=4, 153|language=en}}</ref>

In regard to the three steps of [[Vishnu]], Glucklich points out that in some legends of Vamana and the [[Asura]]-King [[Mahabali|Bali]], that 'the first [Step] covered the entire earth, the second covered the atmosphere, and the third measured heaven in its entirety'.<ref name=":9" /> [[Martin Haug|M. Haug]], in his translation of the [[Aitareya Brahmana]] (1.1.5) of the [[Rigveda]], clarifies that the 'three worlds' often means the Ground (Earth), the Air (Atmosphere), and the Sky (Heavens).<ref>{{Cite book|last=Haug|first=Martin|url=http://archive.org/details/aitareyabrahmana04hauguoft|title=The Aitareya Brahmanam of the Rigveda|date=1922|publisher=Bahadurganj, Allahabad Sudhindra Nath Vasu|others=Robarts – University of Toronto|pages=9}}</ref> Three steps thus encompasses all of physical existence (although in some [[Puranic]] accounts Vamana does so in only two steps). D. Goodall also relates more a [[mystical]] interpretation of what 'three worlds' symbolises, as provided by the [[Brihadaranyaka Upanishad]], including [[Mind]], [[Speech]], and [[Breath]] (see [[Upanishad]] section, below).<ref>{{Cite book|last=Goodall|first=Dominic|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=EKUteclXOK8C&q=hinduism+three+worlds+mind&pg=PA54|title=Hindu Scriptures|date=2001|publisher=Motilal Banarsidass Publ.|isbn=978-81-208-1770-8|pages=53–55|language=en}}</ref>

Notably, Muir also states that although '<nowiki/>''Adabhya'''  can be translated as 'who cannot be deceived' (as provided by Griffiths, above), it can also be translated as  'the unconquerable preserver', and notes that the 'idea of Vishnu being preeminently the preserver of the universe, which became current in later times [i.e. in the [[Trimurti]]], may possibly have been derived from this verse'.<ref name=":16" />

==== Aitareya Brahmana ====
{{blockquote|In the words ''indras cha Visno yad apaspridhetham'' [RV 6.69.8] (there is hinted) that [[Indra]] and [[Vishnu]] fought with the [[Asura]]s. After they had defeated them, they said to them, "Let us divide!" The Asuras accepted the offer. Indra then said, "All through which Vishnu makes his three steps is ours, the other part is yours." Then Indra stepped through these (three worlds), then over the [[Vedas]], and (lastly) over [[Vāc|Vach]].|source=The Aitareya Brahmana, translated by Martin Haug (1922), Book 6, Chapter 3, Section 15 (pp. 275)}}

The concept of [[Vishnu]] obtaining the three worlds for the [[Deva (Hinduism)|Devas]] from the [[Asura]]s in three steps is clearly explained in the [[Aitareya Brahmana]]. The [[Rigveda]] [[Samhita]] verse referred to (6.69.8) regarding [[Indra]] and Vishnu battling the Asuras states 'Ye Twain have conquered, ne’er have ye been conquered: never hath either of the Twain been vanquished. Ye, Indra-Vishnu, when ye fought the battle, produced this infinite with three divisions'.

{{blockquote|Should the Hotar [Vedic Priest] repeat that verse (''tan vo maho''), he would prevent the rain from coming, for Parjanya has power over the rain (but there is no allusion to him in that verse). But if he repeat the verse ''pinvanty apo'', where there is a
pada referring to rain (the third ''atyam na mihe''), and one referring to the [[Marutas]] [188] (the storms accompanying the rain, in the first pada), and the word ''viniyanti'', "they carry off," which refers to [[Vishnu]], whose characteristic feature is said to be ''vichakrame'', i.e., he strode (thrice through the universe), which meaning is (also) implied in the term ''vinayanti'', and (where is further in it) the word, ''vajie'', "being laden with booty," referring to [[Indra]] (then the rain would come).|source=The Aitareya Brahmana, translated by Martin Haug (1922), Book 3, Chapter 3, Section 18 ('On the Origin of the Dhayyas, their Nature and Meaning', pp. 126–127)|author=|title=}}

The [[Maruts]], referred to as 'the sons of [[Rudra]]' are frequently mentioned throughout the [[Rigveda]], including in relation to the above quotation, producing rain (1.38.7).<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.sacred-texts.com/hin/rigveda/rv01038.htm|title=Rig Veda: Rig-Veda Book 1: HYMN XXXVIII. Maruts.|website=www.sacred-texts.com|access-date=2020-01-21}}</ref> [[Indra]] is the god of rain and as stated in the [[Aitareya Brahmana]], 'rain gives food' (2.5.41; pp.&nbsp;106). This is elaborated upon in the [[Aranyaka|Aitareya Aranyaka]] (Aranyaka 2, Adhyaya 3) which states "the seed of the devas is rain. The seed of rain is herbs. The seed of herbs is food".<ref>{{Cite book|url=http://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.195520|title=Aitareya Aranyaka|last=Keith|first=Arthur Berriedale|date=1909|pages=203}}</ref> Additionally, in the [[Bhagavad Gita]], [[Krishna]] states 'All living bodies subsist on food grains, which are produced from rains. Rains are produced by performance of [[yajna]]' (3.14).<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/3/14/|title=Vedabase: Bhagavad Gita, 3.14|website=vedabase.io|language=en|access-date=2020-01-21}}</ref>

=== Sama Veda ===
{| class="wikitable"
! rowspan="3" |[[Samaveda|Sama]]
! colspan="2" |References
!Notes
|-
|[[Samhita]]
|'''Part 1:''' Book III, Chapter I, Decade II (3.1.2.9); '''Part 2:''' Book VIII, Chapter II, Decade V (8.2.5)<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.sacred-texts.com/hin/sv.htm|title=Hymns of the Samaveda|website=www.sacred-texts.com|access-date=2020-01-22}}</ref>
|From [[Rigveda]] 1.22
|-
|[[Brahmana|Pancavimsa Brahmana]]
|'''Vishnu:''' XII.13.22, XX.3.2; '''Bali (tribute):''' XV.7.4<ref>{{Cite book|last=Dr. Narinder Sharma|url=https://archive.org/details/pancavimsabrahma032052mbp/page/410/mode/2up |title=Pancavimsa Brahmana English Translation |translator=W. Caland |year=1931|pages=411, 526|publisher=The Asiatic Society Of Bengal |language=en}}</ref>
|
|}

==== Samhita ====
{{blockquote|<poem>Through all this world strode [[Vishnu]]: thrice his foot he planted, and the whole
Was gathered in his footstep's dust.

Vishnu, the guardian, he whom none deceiveth, made three steps, thenceforth
Establishing his high decrees.</poem>|source=Sama Veda, translated by R. T. H. Griffith (1895), Part 2, Book VIII, Chapter II, Decade V, Verses 1-2|author=|title=}}The translator, [[Ralph T. H. Griffith|R.T.H. Griffith]], states in his introduction to the [[Sama Veda]] that it 'is made up of hymns, portions of hymns, and detached verses, taken mainly from the ''[[Rigveda]]''<nowiki/>'. The above-quoted Sama Veda hymn, for example, is taken directly from Rigveda hymn 1.22.

==== Pancavimsa Brahmana ====
{{blockquote|[[Prajapati]] created the (domestic) animals (the cattle, the cows). These, being created, left him. Through the agnistoma, he did not reach them, nor through the uktha(-land)s, nor through the sodasin, nor through the night (-rite), nor through the twilight(-laud), nor through the asvina (-sastra). In regard to them, he said to [[Agni]]; 'Try thou to reach these for me’. Agni was not able to reach them through (the first extra-laud:) the nine-versed stoma, the jarabodhlya-(-saman)... He said about them to [[Vishnu]]: ‘Try thou to reach these for me’. Vishnu reached them, through (the fourth extra laud) the twenty-one-versed stoma, through the varavantiya (-saman), he restrained them (from passing away farther, avarayata): with the verse: ‘Here did Vishnu stride’, he strode.|source=Pancavimsa Brahmana, translated by [[Willem Caland|W. Caland]] (1931), Chapter XX, 3.2}}

The terms 'stoma' and 'saman' from the above-quoted Pancavimsa [[Brahmana]] refer to [[mantra]]s and hymns, such from the [[Sama Veda]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.sanskritdictionary.com/?q=stoma|title=Sanskrit Dictionary|website=www.sanskritdictionary.com|access-date=2020-03-17}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://sanskritdictionary.com/?iencoding=iast&q=saman&lang=sans&action=Search|title=Sanskrit Dictionary|website=sanskritdictionary.com|access-date=2020-03-17}}</ref>

The Jaiminīya [[Brahmana]] has a similar verse (1.3.3.2; also of the Sama Veda) which omits [[Vishnu]]'s strides but explains the Varavantiya saman as 'He who desired cattle should apply the Varavantiya Saman. [[Prajapati]] created the animals. Having been created they ran away from him. By means of the Varavantiya Saman he held them back. Because he held them back (''avarayat'') therefore the Varavantiya is called the Varavantiya. The application of the Varavantiya as the [[Yajna|agnistoma]] Saman is made in order that the animals remain present and do not run away'.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Bodewitz|first=H. W.|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=iTpgY3gLFPgC&q=varavantiya&pg=PA97|title=The Jyotiṣṭoma Ritual: Jaiminīya Brāhmaṇa I, 66-364|date=1990|publisher=BRILL|isbn=978-90-04-09120-7|pages=97|language=en}}</ref>

In the [[Taittiriya Samhita]] 5.5.8 (Black [[Yajurveda]]) Varavantiya is also explained as 'Prajapati created [[Agni]]; he [Agni], [being] created, went away from him; him [Agni] he [Prajapati] checked (''avarayata'') by the Varavantiya, and that is why the Varavantiya has its name. By the Cyaita he congealed him, and that is why the Cyaita has its name. In that he reverences, with the Varavantiya, he restrains him, and by the Cyaita he congeals him'.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.sacred-texts.com/hin/yv/yv05.htm|title=Yajur Veda Kanda V|website=www.sacred-texts.com|access-date=2020-03-17}}</ref>

The strides of Vishnu are thus referred to in regard to restraining animals from running away from sacrifices (often in rituals [[Rice cake|rice-cakes]] and other plant or milk-based foods would be [[symbol]]ically sacrificed while the actual animals they represented would be left unharmed). This idea of being restrained by Vishnu strides may be linked to [[Mahabali|Bali]] often being restrained or bound in the legend of Vamana.

=== Yajur Veda ===
{| class="wikitable"
! rowspan="6" |[[Yajurveda|Yajur]]
! colspan="3" |References
!Notes
|-
| rowspan="2" |'''[[Yajurveda#Shukla Yajurveda|Śukla (White)]]'''
|Vajasaneyi [[Samhita]]
|2.25,<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.sacred-texts.com/hin/wyv/wyvbk02.htm|title=White Yajur Veda: Book II|website=www.sacred-texts.com|access-date=2020-01-21}}</ref> 5.15,<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.sacred-texts.com/hin/wyv/wyvbk05.htm|title=White Yajur Veda: Book V|website=www.sacred-texts.com|access-date=2020-03-16}}</ref> 16.30<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.sacred-texts.com/hin/wyv/wyvbk16.htm|title=White Yajur Veda: Book XVI|website=www.sacred-texts.com|access-date=2020-03-15}}</ref>
|2.25 is recited during the 'Vishnu Strides' in the [[yajna]] detailed in [[Shatapatha Brahmana|SB]] 1.9.3.
|-
|[[Shatapatha Brahmana]]
|'''Vishnu''': 1.2.5,<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.sacred-texts.com/hin/sbr/sbe12/sbe1211.htm|title=Satapatha Brahmana Part 1 (SBE12): First Kânda: I, 2. 5. Fifth Brâhmana|website=www.sacred-texts.com|access-date=2020-01-21}}</ref> 1.9.3,<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.sacred-texts.com/hin/sbr/sbe12/sbe1239.htm|title=Satapatha Brahmana Part 1 (SBE12): First Kânda: I, 9, 3. Third Brâhmana|website=www.sacred-texts.com|access-date=2020-01-21}}</ref> 2.3.1.12;<ref name=":6">{{Cite web|url=https://www.sacred-texts.com/hin/sbr/sbe12/sbe1248.htm|title=Satapatha Brahmana Part 1 (SBE12): Second Kânda: II, 3, 1. Third Adhyâya. First Brâhmana|website=www.sacred-texts.com|access-date=2020-02-19}}</ref> '''Bali (tribute):''' 1.3.2.15,<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.sacred-texts.com/hin/sbr/sbe12/sbe1213.htm|title=Satapatha Brahmana Part 1 (SBE12): First Kânda: I, 3, 2. Second Brâhmana|website=www.sacred-texts.com|access-date=2020-02-19}}</ref> 1.5.3.18,<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.sacred-texts.com/hin/sbr/sbe12/sbe1224.htm|title=Satapatha Brahmana Part 1 (SBE12): First Kânda: I, 5, 3. Third Brâhmana|website=www.sacred-texts.com|access-date=2020-02-19}}</ref> 1.6.3.17,<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.sacred-texts.com/hin/sbr/sbe12/sbe1228.htm|title=Satapatha Brahmana Part 1 (SBE12): First Kânda: I, 6, 3. Third Brâhmana|website=www.sacred-texts.com|access-date=2020-02-19}}</ref> 11.2.6.14<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.sacred-texts.com/hin/sbr/sbe44/sbe44016.htm|title=Satapatha Brahmana Part V (SBE44): Eleventh Kânda: XI, 2, 6. Sixth Brâhmana|website=www.sacred-texts.com|access-date=2020-02-19}}</ref>
|1.9.3 uses the formula from Vajasaneyi Samhita 2.25.
|-
| rowspan="3" |'''[[Yajurveda#Krishna Yajurveda|Krishna (Black)]]'''
| rowspan="2" |[[Taittiriya]] [[Samhita]]
|'''VIshnu: Kanda 1:''' (strides) 2.13.i, 3.4.d, 3.6, 6.5, 7.5, 7.6, 7.7, 8.10, 8.15; (dwarf) 8.1, 8.8, 8.17;<ref name=":7">{{Cite web|url=https://www.sacred-texts.com/hin/yv/yv01.htm|title=Yajur Veda Kanda I|website=www.sacred-texts.com|access-date=2020-01-22}}</ref> '''Kanda 2:''' (dwarf) 1.3, 1.5, 1.8; (strides) 4.12, 6.12;<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.sacred-texts.com/hin/yv/yv02.htm|title=Yajur Veda Kanda II|website=www.sacred-texts.com|access-date=2020-01-22}}</ref> '''Kanda 3:''' (strides) 2.6, 2.10, 2.11, 5.3;<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.sacred-texts.com/hin/yv/yv03.htm|title=Yajur Veda Kanda III|website=www.sacred-texts.com|access-date=2020-01-22}}</ref>  '''Kanda 4:''' (strides) 2.1, 2.9; (dwarf) 5.5;<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.sacred-texts.com/hin/yv/yv04.htm|title=Yajur Veda Kanda IV|website=www.sacred-texts.com|access-date=2020-01-22}}</ref> '''Kanda 5:''' (strides) 2.1, 6.16;<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.sacred-texts.com/hin/yv/yv05.htm|title=Yajur Veda Kanda V|website=www.sacred-texts.com|access-date=2020-01-22}}</ref> '''Kanda 6:''' --;<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.sacred-texts.com/hin/yv/yv06.htm|title=Yajur Veda Kanda VI|website=www.sacred-texts.com|access-date=2020-01-22}}</ref> '''Kanda 7:''' --<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.sacred-texts.com/hin/yv/yv07.htm|title=Yajur Veda Kanda VII|website=www.sacred-texts.com|access-date=2020-01-22}}</ref>
| rowspan="2" |'Kanda 1: 2.13.i' means 'Kanda 1, Prapāṭhaka 2, Section 13, verse i'.
|-
|'''Bali (tribute):''' '''Kanda 1:''' 6.2<ref name=":7" />
|-
|[[Taittiriya Brahmana]]
|'''VIshnu: Book 1:''' 1.2.5.1; '''Book 2:''' 2.4.3.10; '''Bali (tax / tribute): Book 2:''' 2.7.18.3<ref name=":2">{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_8sBtAEACAAJ|title=Taittirīya Brāhmaṇa: Text in Devanāgari and Translation|date=2017|publisher=Sri Aurobindo Kapāli Sāstry Institute of Vedic Culture|isbn=978-81-7994-166-9|pages=107 (Volume 1), 144 (Volume 2)|language=en}}</ref>
|
|}

==== White Yajurveda: Vajasaneyi Samhita ====

{{blockquote|<poem>Homage to him with braided hair and to him with shaven
hair, homage! homage to the thousand-eyed and to him
with a hundred bows, homage!
To the mountain-haunter and to Sipivishta, homage!
To the most bountiful, armed with arrows, homage!

Homage to the short, and to the dwarf, homage, homage to
the great and to the adult, homage! Homage to the full-grown
and to the growing, to the foremost and to the first
be homage.

Homage to the swift, and to the active be homage, and to
the hasty and to the rapid mover be homage! Homage to
him who dwells in waves, and in still waters, to him who
dwells in rivers and on islands.</poem>|source=Vajasaneyi Samhita, translated by [[Ralph T.H. Griffith]] (1899), Book 16, Verses 29-31|author=|title=}}

In regard to the above quotation, Aiyangar states that long (i.e. including braided) hair indicates [[Muni (Saint)|Munis]], and shaven hair indicates 'an [[ascetic]] of the order of [[sannyasin]]'.<ref name=":14">{{Cite book|last=Narayan Aiyangar|url=https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.217324|title=Essays On Indo Aryan Mythology|date=1901|pages=217, 236, 257}}</ref> Roy argues that in 'the [[Shri Rudram|Satarudriya]] hymn of the [[Yajurveda]] [i.e. Vajasaneyi Samhita, Book 16, as quoted above], [[Rudra]] is referred to as ''vamana''. Rudra is said to preside over the [[Asterism (astronomy)|asterism]] of Ardra and may, therefore, be understood to denote the star'.<ref name=":15" />

However, the terms 'thousand-eyed' (i.e. [[Purusha]], see second account of Vamana in the [[Harivamsa]], below), 'mountain-haunter' (e.g. [[Rigveda]] 1.154, above), and 'Sipivishta'<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.maxgyan.com/hindi/sh/shipiviShT-meaning-in-english.html|title=Meaning of shipivishta in English - Shipivishta meaning|website=www.maxgyan.com|access-date=2020-03-15}}</ref><ref name=":16">{{Cite book|last=Muir|first=John|url=http://archive.org/details/originalsanskri02muirgoog|title=Original Sanskrit Texts on the Origin and History of the People of India (Vol. 4)|date=1873|publisher=Trübner|others=Harvard University|pages=64, 67, 87, 122|language=sa}}</ref> given in the above-quote all also apply to [[Vishnu]]. In addition, the [[Shatapatha Brahmana]] (attached to the [[Vajasaneyi Samhita]]), relates the legend of Vishnu as a Dwarf, not Rudra /[[Shiva]]. Regardless, in the [[Puranas]] there are legends of both Vishnu and Shiva incarnating as Brahmin-dwarfs, and the above-quoted hymn provides the essential ingredients: the [[Brahmin]], the [[Dwarfism|Dwarf]], and the concept of growth.

==== White Yajurveda: Shatapatha Brahmana ====
{{See also|Shatapatha Brahmana}}
[[File:Vishnu dwarf incarnation, Pala period, Bengal - BHU Museum (7030891383).jpg|thumb|Vishnu dwarf incarnation (Vamana), Pala period, Bengal – BHU Museum]]
{{blockquote|<poem>The gods and the [[Asura]]s, both of them sprung from [[Prajapati|Pragâpati]], were contending for superiority. Then the gods were worsted, and the Asuras thought: 'To us alone assuredly belongs this world! They thereupon said: 'Well then, let us divide this world between us; and having divided it, let us subsist thereon!' They accordingly set about dividing it with ox-hides from west to east.

The gods then heard of this, and said: 'The Asuras are actually dividing this earth: come, let us go to where the Asuras are dividing it. For what would become of us, if we were to get no share in it?' Placing [[Vishnu]], (in the shape of) this very sacrifice, at their head, they went (to the Asuras). They then said: 'Let us share in this earth along with yourselves! Let a part of it be ours!' The Asuras replied rather grudgingly: 'As much as this Vishnu lies upon, and no more, we give you!'

Now Vishnu was a [[Dwarfism|dwarf]]. The gods, however, were not offended at this, but said: 'Much indeed they gave us, who gave us what is equal in size to the [[Yajna|sacrifice]]' ... Having thus enclosed him on all (three) sides, and having placed Agni (the fire) on the east side, they went on worshipping and toiling with it (or him, i.e. Vishnu, the sacrifice). By it they obtained (sam-vid) this entire earth...</poem>|source= Shatapatha Brahmana, translated by Julius Eggeling (1900), Kanda I, Adhyaya 2, Brahmana 5, Verses 1–7}}

Muir states about this legend in the [[Shatapatha Brahmana]] that '[[Vishnu]] is represented as a [[Dwarfism|dwarf]], and as having, under the form of [[Yajna|sacrifice]], conquered the whole earth... [this] contains the germ of the story of the Dwarf [i.e. Vamana] incarnation'.<ref name=":16" /> This legend is given in relation to the ''Darsapûrnamâseshtî'', or 'New and Full-moon Sacrifices'. The translator, [[Julius Eggeling|Eggeling]], states (footnote 59:1 of the given link)  that the above-quoted legend 'represents the ''Purva-Parigraha'', or first enclosing of the [[Vedi (altar)|altar]] by a single line being drawn with the wooden sword [a sacrificial instrument called a ''satasphyam''] on each of the three sides'. He also supposes (while admitting he cannot prove it) that the size of [[Vishnu]] may represent 'the sun-light, which, on shrinking to a dwarf's size in the evening, is the only means of preservation left to the devas'.

{{blockquote|<poem>He now strides the (three) [[Vishnu]]-strides. He who sacrifices assuredly gratifies the gods. In gratifying the gods by that sacrifice--partly by riks [verses from the RigVeda], partly by yagus [verses from the YajurVeda], partly by oblations--he acquires a share among them; and having acquired a share among them, he goes to them.

And again why he strides the Vishnu-strides, is; Vishnu, truly, is the sacrifice, by striding (vi-kram) he obtained for the gods that all-pervading power (vikrânti) which now belongs to them. By his first step he gained this same (earth), by the second this aërial expanse, and by his last (step) the sky. And this same pervading power Vishnu, as the sacrifice, obtains by his strides for him (the sacrificer): for this reason he strides the Vishnu-strides. Now it is indeed from this (earth) that most (beings) go (upwards)..</poem>|source= Shatapatha Brahmana, translated by Julius Eggeling (1900), Kanda I, Adhyaya 9, Brahmana 3, Verses 8-9|author=|title=}}

This instruction, relating directly to the Vishnu strides mentioned in the [[Rigveda]], is also given in relation to the ''Darsapūrnamāseshtī'', or 'New and Full-moon Sacrifices'. The three strides of Vishnu are not mentioned in direct relation to the legend of Vishnu as a dwarf. Instead, they are mentioned in regard to the performance of [[sacrifice]]s to consecrate the sacrificial ground (e.g. to drive away the [[Rakshasa]]s or 'demons' and solidify their own power).
{{blockquote|Now when he offers in the evening after sunset, he does so thinking, 'I will offer to the gods of this life-giving juice: we subsist on this which belongs to them.' And when he afterwards takes his evening meal, he eats what remains of the offering, and whereof '''oblative portions (bali)''' have been distributed all round; for he who performs the Agnihotra eats only what remains of the offering.|source= Shatapatha Brahmana, translated by Julius Eggeling (1900), Kanda 2, Adhyaya 3, Brahmana 1, Verse 12|author=|title=}}
This quote shows that 'Bali' is used refer to oblative portions or sacrificial offerings in ritual ceremonies such as the [[Agnihotra]]. In combination with 'Bali' being used to refer to taxes (see Taittiriya Brahmana, below), it therefore seems possible these meanings are linked with [[Mahabali|Bali]] being a king that loved to perform sacrifices and give sacrificial offerings (e.g. such as three steps of land).

==== Black Yajurveda: Taittiriya Samhita ====
{{See also|Taittiriya Shakha}}

{{blockquote|The [[Deva (Hinduism)|gods]] and the [[Asura]]s strove for these worlds; [[Visnu]] saw this dwarf, he offered it to its own deity; then he conquered these worlds. One who is engaged in a struggle should offer a dwarf (beast) to Visnu; then he becomes Visnu and conquers these worlds.|source=Taittiriya Samhita, translated by Arthur Berriedale Keith (1914), Kanda 2, Prapathaka 1, Section 3}}As per the above quote from the [[Taittiriya Shakha|Taittirya Samhita]], the sacrificial fee for [[Vishnu]] is a dwarf-animal (also stated in 1.8.1 (ox), 1.8.8, and 1.8.17). As D.A. Soifer states, the 'series of connections inherent in all this seems to be as follows: Visnu's three steps regain the worlds - Vishnu as a dwarf takes the three steps - a dwarf animal is sacrificed to Visnu to gain the power of this three steps'.<ref name=":17">{{Cite book|last=Soifer|first=Deborah A.|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=OoFDK_sDGHwC&pg=PA37|title=The Myths of Narasimha and Vamana: Two Avatars in Cosmological Perspective|date=1991-01-01|publisher=SUNY Press|isbn=978-0-7914-0799-8|pages=37|language=en}}</ref>

==== Black Yajurveda: Taittiriya Brahmana ====
{{blockquote|Then the King recites the two ''dvadasha'' strotras and the two ''chaturvimsha''. Then the ''[[Kshatriya|Kshatra]]'' power manifests in him very well (''udbhidyam''), then the citizens easily bring their '''taxes (bali)''' to the king.|source=Taittiriya Brahmana (Volume 2), translated by R.L. Kashyap (2017), Ashtaka 2, Prapathaka 7, Anuvaka 18, Khandika 3 (p.377)|author=|title=}}

This quote shows that 'Bali' is used refer to taxes paid to the King. It seems possible that this is linked to the character of Bali being a king (of the Asuras) who - also consistent with the other meaning of 'sacrificial offerings or oblations' - loved to perform sacrifices and give sacrificial offerings (such as land requested by dwarf-[[Brahmin]]s).

=== Atharva Veda ===
{| class="wikitable"
! rowspan="2" |[[Atharvaveda|Arharva]]
! colspan="2" |References
!Notes
|-
|[[Samhita]]
|'''Vishnu:''' 7.26;<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.sacred-texts.com/hin/av/av07026.htm|title=Atharva Veda: Book 7: Hymn 26: Praise of Vishnu|website=www.sacred-texts.com|access-date=2020-02-18}}</ref> '''Bali (tribute):''' 3.4.3,<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.sacred-texts.com/hin/av/av03004.htm|title=Atharva Veda: Book 3: Hymn 4: A benediction at the election of a king|website=www.sacred-texts.com|access-date=2020-02-19}}</ref> 11.1.20,<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.sacred-texts.com/hin/av/av11001.htm|title=Atharva Veda: Book 11: Hymn 1: An accompaniment to the preparation and presentation of a Brahmaudana|website=www.sacred-texts.com|access-date=2020-02-19}}</ref> 11.4.19<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.sacred-texts.com/hin/av/av11004.htm|title=Atharva Veda: Book 11: Hymn 4: A glorification of Prāna, Breath or Vital Spirit|website=www.sacred-texts.com|access-date=2020-02-19}}</ref>
|7.26 is from [[Rigveda]] 1.54. 11.1.20 uses the word '<nowiki/>''bali-hāra'<nowiki/>''; 11.4.19 uses '''bali-hṛt''<nowiki/>' to mean 'tribute'.<ref name=":4">{{Cite book |last1=Macdonell |first1=Arthur Anthony |url=http://archive.org/details/vedicindexofname02macduoft |title=Vedic index of names and subjects (Vol 2) |last2=Keith |first2=Arthur Berriedale |date=1912 |publisher=London, Murray |others=Robarts - University of Toronto |pages=62}}</ref>
|}

== Upanishads ==

=== Brihadaranyaka Upanishad ===

{{blockquote|<poem>These are the three worlds. The organ of speech is this World (The Earth), the mind is the sky, and the vital force is that World (Heaven).
These are the three [[Vedas]]. The organ of speech is the [[RigVeda]], the mind is the [[Yajurveda|YajurVeda]], and the vital force the [[Samaveda|SamaVeda]].
These are the [[Deva (Hinduism)|Gods]], the [[Manes]] and [[Human|Men]]. The organ of speech is the gods, the mind the Manes, and the vital force men.
These are the father, mother and child. The mind is the father, the organ of speech the mother, and the vital force the child.</poem>|source=Brihadaranyaka Upanishad with commentary of [[Adi Shankara|Shankaracharya]] (translated by Swami Madhavananda, 1934), Section 5, Verses 4-7<ref>{{Cite book|last=Madhavananda|first=Swami Tr|url=http://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.20823|title=The Brihadaranyaka Upanishad|date=1934|pages=217–218}}</ref>|author=|title=}}

[[File:Agni deva.JPG|thumb|[[Agni]], God Of Fire.]]
The [[Brihadaranyaka Upanishad]] is one of the [[Mukhya]] or Principal 108 [[Upanishads]].<ref>Paul Deussen, Sixty Upanishads of the Veda, Volume 2, Motilal Banarsidass, {{ISBN|978-8120814691}}, pages 556-557</ref><ref>[[Paul Deussen]], [https://archive.org/stream/philosophyofupan00deus#page/22/mode/2up The Philosophy of the Upanishads], Motilal Banarsidass (2011 Edition), {{ISBN|978-8120816206}}, page 23</ref> From the last book of the [[Satapatha Brahmana]] (Kanva [[recension]]; this article cites the Madhyandina recension in the section above, which does not contain the Upanishad),<ref name="pauldeussen">Paul Deussen, Sixty Upanishads of the Veda, Volume 1, Motilal Banarsidass, {{ISBN|978-8120814684}}, pages 389-397</ref> it is a treatise on [[Ātman (Hinduism)|Atman]] (Soul or Self), and has been commented upon by figures such as [[Adi Shankara|Adi Shankar]] and [[Madhvacharya]].<ref>[https://archive.org/stream/Brihadaranyaka.Upanishad.Shankara.Bhashya.by.Swami.Madhavananda#page/n0/mode/2up Brihadaranyaka Upanishad with Adi Shankara's commentary] Swami Madhavananada (Translator)</ref><ref>Brihadaranyaka Upanisad with the commentary of Madhvacharya, Translated by Rai Bahadur Sriśa Chandra Vasu (1933), {{oclc|222634127}}</ref>

According to this [[Sruti]] scripture, the concept of the 'three worlds' does not just refer to physical reality (i.e. ground, atmosphere, and sky). It also has other - more mystical - meanings, including [[Vac (speech)|Speech]], [[Chandra|Mind]], and [[Prana|Vital Force]]. As such, the legend of Vamana striding over the three worlds in two or three steps also may have more mystical meanings, and those provided by the [[Brihadaranyaka Upanishad]] seem to be consistent with established Vedic concepts such as [[Pancha Bhoota]] (the [[Hindu]] [[classical element]]s). For example, it is stated by the above-quoted Upanishad that the first step on the earth also represents the organ of speech ('[[Vāc|vac]]' or 'vak'). According to other authoritative - including [[Sruti]] sources - the first step, ground, and speech are all represented by [[Agni]] (God of Fire; [[Vedi (altar)|fire-altars]] are key components of [[Yajna|sacrifices]]):

*[[Sayana]] states that the first step on the earth is represented by [[Agni]] (see above).
*The [[Taittiriya Samhita]] (Black [[Yajurveda]]) 1.7.11 states 'Agni with one syllable won speech'<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.sacred-texts.com/hin/yv/yv01.htm|title=Black / Krishna YajurVeda: Kanda I|website=www.sacred-texts.com|access-date=2020-03-17}}</ref> (2.1.4 also explains the symbolic significance of the number three).<ref name="sacred-texts_yv02"/>
* The [[Shatapatha Brahmana]] (White Yajurveda) 3.2.2.13 states 'Agni is speech'.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.sacred-texts.com/hin/sbr/sbe26/sbe2608.htm|title=Satapatha Brahmana Part II (SBE26): Third Kânda: III, 2, 2. Second Brâhmana|website=www.sacred-texts.com|access-date=2020-03-17}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|last1=Bäumer|first1=Bettina|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=uPoIZaGGtiMC&pg=PA216|title=Kalātattvakośa: Primal elements-Mahābhūta|last2=Vatsyayan|first2=Kapila|date=1988|publisher=Motilal Banarsidass Publishers|isbn=978-81-208-1402-8|pages=216 ('agnir vai vak')|language=en}}</ref>

== Itihasa (Epics) ==

=== Mahabharata ===
{| class="wikitable"
! rowspan="3" |[[Mahabharata]]
!References
!Notes
|-
|'''Book 3''' - Vana Parva - CII (102),<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.sacred-texts.com/hin/m03/m03102.htm|title=The Mahabharata, Book 3: Vana Parva: Tirtha-yatra Parva: Section CII|website=www.sacred-texts.com|access-date=2020-02-18}}</ref> CCLXX (270),<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.sacred-texts.com/hin/m03/m03270.htm|title=The Mahabharata, Book 3: Vana Parva: Draupadi-harana Parva: Section CCLXX|website=www.sacred-texts.com|access-date=2020-02-18}}</ref> CCCXIII (313);<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.sacred-texts.com/hin/m03/m03313.htm|title=The Mahabharata, Book 3: Vana Parva: Aranya Parva: Section CCCXIII|website=www.sacred-texts.com|access-date=2020-02-18}}</ref> '''Book 6''' - Bhishma Parva - LXVII (67);<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.sacred-texts.com/hin/m06/m06067.htm|title=The Mahabharata, Book 6: Bhishma Parva: Bhagavat-Gita Parva: Section LXVII|website=www.sacred-texts.com|access-date=2020-02-18}}</ref> '''Book 12''' - Santi Parva - XLIV (44),<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.sacred-texts.com/hin/m12/m12a043.htm|title=The Mahabharata, Book 12: Santi Parva: Rajadharmanusasana Parva: Section XLIV|website=www.sacred-texts.com|access-date=2020-02-18}}</ref> CCVII (207),<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.sacred-texts.com/hin/m12/m12b034.htm|title=The Mahabharata, Book 12: Santi Parva: Mokshadharma Parva: Section CCVII|website=www.sacred-texts.com|access-date=2020-02-18}}</ref> CCCXL (340),<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.sacred-texts.com/hin/m12/m12c039.htm|title=The Mahabharata, Book 12: Santi Parva: Section CCCXL|website=www.sacred-texts.com|access-date=2020-02-18}}</ref> CCCL (350);<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.sacred-texts.com/hin/m12/m12c049.htm|title=The Mahabharata, Book 12: Santi Parva: Section CCCL|website=www.sacred-texts.com|access-date=2020-02-18}}</ref> '''Book 13''' - Anusasana Parva - XVII (17),<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.sacred-texts.com/hin/m13/m13a017.htm|title=The Mahabharata, Book 13: Anusasana Parva: Anusasanika Parva: Section XVII|website=www.sacred-texts.com|access-date=2020-02-18}}</ref> CIX (109),<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.sacred-texts.com/hin/m13/m13b074.htm|title=The Mahabharata, Book 13: Anusasana Parva: Section CIX|website=www.sacred-texts.com|access-date=2020-02-18}}</ref> CXXVI (126),<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.sacred-texts.com/hin/m13/m13b091.htm|title=The Mahabharata, Book 13: Anusasana Parva: Section CXXVI|website=www.sacred-texts.com|access-date=2020-02-18}}</ref> CXLIX (149);<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.sacred-texts.com/hin/m13/m13b114.htm|title=The Mahabharata, Book 13: Anusasana Parva: Section CXLIX|website=www.sacred-texts.com|access-date=2020-02-18}}</ref>
|
|-
| colspan="2" |Translation is by [[Kisari Mohan Ganguli|K.M. Ganguli]], unless otherwise stated.
|}

{{blockquote|<poem>Then that powerful king of wild beasts, Man-Lion [<nowiki/>[[Narasimha]]], taking a leap in the air, instantly rent the [[Daitya]] [<nowiki/>[[Hiranyakashipu]]] in twain by means of his sharp claws. And the adorable lotus-eyed Lord of great effulgence, having thus slain the Daitya king for the well-being of all creatures, again took his birth in the womb of [[Aditi]] as son of [[Kashyapa]]. And at the expiration of a thousand years she was delivered of that superhuman conception. And then was born that Being, of the hue of rain-charged clouds with bright eyes and of [[Dwarfism]] stature.

He had the [[Asceticism]]'s staff and water-pot in hand, and was marked with the emblem of a curl of hair on the breast [the [[shrivatsa]] mark]. And that adorable Being wore matted locks and the sacrificial thread, and he was stout and handsome and resplendent with lustre. And that Being, arriving at the sacrificial enclosure of [[Mahabali|Vali]], king of the [[Danavas]], entered the sacrificial assembly with the aid of [[Vrihaspati]]. And beholding that dwarf-bodied Being, Vali was well-pleased and said unto him, 'I am glad to see thee, O [[Brahmin|Brahmana]]! Say what is it that thou wantest from me!' Thus addressed by Vali, the dwarf-god replied with a smile, saying, 'So be it! Do thou, lord of the Danavas, give me three paces of ground!' And Vali contented to give what that Brahmana of infinite power had asked. And while measuring with his paces the space he sought. [[Hari]] assumed a wonderful and extraordinary form. And with only three paces he instantly covered this illimitable world. And then that everlasting God, [[Vishnu]], gave it away unto [[Indra]]. This history which has just been related to thee, is celebrated as the 'Incarnation of the Dwarf', And from him, all the gods had their being, and after him the world is said to be [[Vaishnava]], or pervaded by Vishnu. And for the destruction of the wicked and the preservation of religion, even He hath taken his birth among men in the race of the [[Yadu]]s. And the adorable Vishnu is styled [[Krishna]].</poem>|source=[[Mahabharata]] (translated by Kisari Mohan Ganguli, 1883-1896), Book 3, Vana Parva, Chapter CCLXX (270)|author=|title=}}

The [[Mahabharata]], ascribed to the sage [[Vyasa]], is one of two epic poems ([[Itihasa]]) in the [[Hindu]] cannon. Most notably, of the 18 the books (''parvas'') of the Mahabharata, the sixth (called the [[Bhishma Parva]]) is the [[Bhagavad Gita]], containing the teachings of [[Krishna]] (synonymous with [[Vishnu]] / [[Hari]], as evidenced by the Mahabharata itself). The main account of Vamana is quoted above from chapter 270 of the third book, the [[Vana Parva]], in its entirety. All other references cited are either brief mentions of this legend or supplementary information such as blessings that can be obtained in relation to Vamana.

Notably, academics such as J. Melton and C. A. Jones state that '[[Onam]], an ancient rice harvest festival, is now tied to the story of King [[Mahabali]] as recounted in the epic Indian tale, the [[Mahabharata]]... [[Vishnu]], impressed with Mahabali's devotion, granted him [Bali] the boon of being able to revisit his former subjects once a year'.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Melton|first=J. Gordon|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=lD_2J7W_2hQC&pg=PA659|title=Religious Celebrations: An Encyclopedia of Holidays, Festivals, Solemn Observances, and Spiritual Commemorations [2 volumes]|date=2011-09-13|publisher=ABC-CLIO|isbn=978-1-59884-206-7|pages=659|language=en}}</ref> However, no references were provided and no such account has been found in the Mahabharata (at least in the translation by [[Kisari Mohan Ganguli|K.M. Ganguli]]). Other notable details include:

* Referring to the [[Rigveda]] (i.e. the three steps of Vishnu), it is stated '[[Vishnu|He]] is the great [[Varaha|Boar]]. He is the great [[Narasimha|Man-Lion]], and He is the Three-stepped Lord' (Book 6, Bhishma Parva, LXVII)
*[[Aditi]] gave birth to the [[Âdityas|devas]] (including Vamana), [[Diti]] the Asuras, and [[Danu (Asura)|Danu]] the [[Danavas]]; all are wives of [[Kashyapa]] (Book 12, Santi Parva, CCVII)
*[[Krishna]], while informing the sage [[Narada]] of His incarnations including Vamana, states 'The [[Vedas]]... were re-created by me in the [[Satya Yuga]] (Golden Age). They have once more disappeared or may only be partially heard here and there in the [[Puranas]]' (Book 12, Santi Parva, CCCXL)
*It is stated that 'By observing a fast on the twelfth day of the moon in the month of [[Ashadha]] and worshipping [[Krishna]] as the dwarf (who beguiled the [[Asura]] king [[Mahabali|Vali]]), one attains to the merits of the [[Purushamedha|Naramedha]] sacrifice and sports in happiness with the [[Apsara]]s' (Book 13, Anusasana Parva, CIX)
*[[Vishnu]] states 'who behold a [[Brahmana]] that is a [[Dwarfism|dwarf]] in stature, or a [[boar]] that has just risen from water and that bears on his head a quantity of mud taken up from the bank, have never to meet with any evil. They become freed from every sin' (Book 13, Anusasana Parva, CXXVI)

==== Harivamsa ====
{| class="wikitable"
! rowspan="2" |[[Harivamsa]]
!References
!Notes
|-
|'''Part 1:''' LXXVII (77), LXXX (80), CV (105), CCXVIII (218), CCXIX (219), CCXXXVI (236); '''Part 2:''' '''Bhavishya Parva:''' XXVII (27), XL-XLVI (40-46);<ref>{{Cite book|editor-last=Dutt|editor-first=Manmatha Nath |url=http://archive.org/details/AProseEnglishTranslationOfHarivamsh|title=A Prose English Translation Of Harivamsha|date=1897}}</ref>
|There are two different versions of the [[Harivamsa]], itself considered to be an appendix to the [[Mahabharata]]. First is the shorter 'critical edition', which is split into three parts. Most notably this has been translated by [[Bibek Debroy|Debroy]].<ref>{{Cite book|last=Debroy|first=Bibek|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=BRnpDAAAQBAJ&q=harivamsa+bibek+debroy|title=Harivamsha|date=2016-09-09|publisher=Penguin UK|isbn=978-93-86057-91-4|pages=xvi-xvii (introduction)|language=en}}</ref>  Second is the longer (likely unabridged) version in two parts. This article references the Dutt translation; there is another by Dasa.<ref>{{Cite book|last1=Dāsa|first1=Bhūmipati|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=k2rXAAAAMAAJ|title=Harivaṁśa Purāṇa: Ch. 26-55|last2=Dāsa|first2=Purnaprajna|date=2005|publisher=Rasbihari Lal & Sons|isbn=978-81-87812-70-8|language=en}}</ref>
|}

===== First account =====
{{blockquote|In the form of a dwarf Vishnu accepted as alms ground for placing his three [footsteps] from that descendant of [[Hiranyakashipu]]. Afterwards the Eternal [[Vishnu]] invaded the three worlds with this three footsteps and assumed a celestial form.|source=Harivamsa (translated by Manmatha Nath Dutt,1897), Bhavishya Parva, Chapter XXVII, Verses 11-16|author=|title=}}

The first account consists of only one chapter (Bhavishya Parva: XXVII / 27). It begins with the [[Daitya]] [[Mahabali|Bali]], having conquered [[Indra]] and the [[Deva (Hinduism)|devas]], conducting a [[Rajasuya]] sacrifice, officiated by [[Shukra]] and joined by 'many [[Brahmin|Brahmanas]] observant of [[ascetic]] vows and well read in the [[Vedas]]'. At this sacrifice [[Sarasvati]] ([[Lakshmi]]) appears and grants Bali a boon. Vamana is then born, takes the three worlds away from Bali in three footsteps, and restores [[Indra]] to power while the '[[Daitya]]s entered into the [[Patala|nether region]]'. Bali gratifies the devas with an 'offering of [[ambrosia]]', and so 'was shorn of his sins and became immortal'.

===== Second account =====
{{Verse translation|There [[Daksha]] and other Patriarchs, Pracheta, [[Pulaha]], the foremost of the twice-born [[Marichi]], [[Bhrigu]], Atri, [[Vasishtha]], Goutama, and [[Narada]], were worshipping him. Learning, mind, sky, fire, water, earth, sound, touch, form, taste, smell, these objects of sense, the principle of greatness, the four [[vedas]]...|There venerable Brahmanas, Daksa, Pracetas, Pulaha, Marichi, Bhrgu, Atri, Vasistha, Gautama and Narada. Learning, the sky, Wind, Light, Water, Earth, Sound, Touch, Form, Taste, Odour, Nature, Manifestation, and the Great Cause, the Four Vedas...|lang=en|attr1=HariVamsa (Dutt Translation, 1897), Bhavishya Parva, Chapter XLII, Verses 28-47|attr2=Vamana Purana (Gupta Translation, 1968), Chapter 3, Verses 27-29|italicsoff=1}}

The second account of the legend of Vamana is very similar to the accounts in the [[Matsya Purana]] and [[Vamana Purana]]. As shown above in comparison to the Vamana Purana, there are even strong similarities in wording, despite being a different translation of different text by a different translator. It therefore seems likely that either all three texts share a common source, or that one is the origin of the others.

{{blockquote|When the Lord was born as [[Kashyapa]]'s son, he had eyes blood-red like the clouds of an unfair day and was of the form of a [[Dwarfism|dwarf]]. On his breast was the mystic mark of [[Srivatsa]]. With expanded eyes the [[Apsara]]s looked at him. His effulgence was like that of a thousand suns rising simultaneously in the sky. That beautiful Lord was the supporter of Bhur, Bhuva and other [[loka]]s, had high shoulders and pure hairs, was the refuge of the pious, and offered no shelter to the iniquitous.|source=Harivamsa (translated by Manmatha Nath Dutt,1897), Bhavishya Parva, Chapter XLIV, Verses 30-42|author=|title=}}

The second - and main - account of Vamana consists of 7 chapters (Bhavishya Parva: XL-XLVI / 40–46). '[[Kashyapa]], the well-dressed son of [[Marichi]], espoused two sisters of [[Prajapati]], [[Diti]] and [[Aditi]]'. Aditi gives birth to the twelve classes of celestials / [[Adityas]] / Suras (e.g. '[[Indra]]' is the name of a post or class of a god, not an individual), and Diti gives birth to the demons / [[Daitya]]s / [[Asura]]s, including [[Hiranyakashipu]], the great-grandfather of [[Mahabali|Bali]]. After Hiranyakashipu is destroyed by the [[Narasimha]] incarnation, the noble Bali is crowned King of the Asuras (XL). Having defeated Indra and the Suras, Bali is congratulated by [[Lakshmi]] (XLI).

The devas seek refuge with their mother, Aditi, at her Hermitage. She tells Indra 'yourself and all the immortals cannot slay [[Virochana]]'s son, Bali. Only the thousand-headed [[Purusha]] is capable of slaying him and none else'. The devas and Aditi then approach Kashyapa, who agreeing with their desire to restore Indra's throne, takes them to the celestial abode of [[Brahmaloka]] to speak with [[Brahma]]. Brahma advises them to seek [[Vishnu]], and they do so 'at the northern bank of the [[ocean of milk]]... Reaching that place called [[Amrita]] the Suras along with Kashyapa began to practice hard austerities for many years with a view to propitiate the thousand-eyed intelligent [[Yogi]]n [[Narayana]]' (XLII).

Vishnu, pleased with the austerities of the devas, agrees to Kashyapa's request to be born as Indra's 'younger brother, ever enhancing the joy of thy kinsmen and as the son of myself and Aditi'. Back at the Hermitage 'filled with saints they [the devas] engaged in the study of the [[Vedas]] and awaited Aditi's conception;. After a thousand years of pregnancy, Aditi, gives birth to Vamana, 'the protector of the devas and the destroyer of the Asuras' (XLIII). Praised and Eulogised by the devas, Vamana agrees to attend the horse sacrifice of Bali with the [[Rishi]] [[Vrihaspati]], and while there 'will do what I think proper for regaining the three worlds'.

At the sacrifice Vamana 'assumed the form of a boy, had smokey eyes, wore sacrificial thread well-polished, and deer-skin. He had an umbrella and staff in his hands. Although not aged he appeared like an old man'. Appearing to Bali, Vamana 'of wonderful speech, with reasons and arguments laid down in the Vedas, but not visible to any, described himself unto Bali as being identical with [[Yajna|sacrifice]]'. Astonished, Bali asks about Vamana and what He wants (XLIV). After describing the details and merits of the [[Ashvamedha]] sacrifice, Vamana requests three steps of land before Bali is warned by [[Shukra]] 'do not promise him any gift... He is the Great Lord [[Hari]]. Having assumed the form of a dwarf through his [[Maya (religion)|Maya]] he has come here to impose on you for the well-being of the king of devas [Indra]'.

Bali, pleased that the Lord of Sacrifice has personally attended, rejects the protests of both Shukra and his grandfather [[Prahlada]] to gift three footsteps of land to Vamana, who then displays his Universal Form. Angry, the other Asuras approach Vamana 'like insects going to a fire' (XLV). Increasing His gigantic form, Vamana smashes 'all the sons of Diti with his palms and feet'. The Asura leaders are destroyed, the three worlds possessed 'with his three-foot steps' are given back to Indra, and Bali is pleased to be assigned 'the region under the earth called [[Sutala]]'. Bali is also conferred a boon where he will benefit from the merits of things like improper sacrifices and vow-less studies, etc. Vishnu divides the world, and later [[Narada]] and [[Garuda]] discuss Vishnu with Bali, bound by celestial serpents (XLVI).

===== Links to the Varaha incarnation =====

* Notably, the horse-sacrifice ([[Ashvamedha]]) is described as 'the best of all sacrifices' and that this 'great [[yajna]] [is in] the shape of a [[boar]] with golden horns, iron hoops and gait fleet like the mind, which has profuse gold and is the origin of the universe, is highly sacred'. This may link to the [[Varaha]] incarnation (Bhavishya Parva: XLV)
* [[Mahabali|Bali]], after the three worlds were taken from him by the Vamana incarnation and stricken by the consequences, mentions [[Varaha]] lifting the Earth to [[Narada]] (Bhavishya Parva: XLVI)

=== Ramayana ===
{| class="wikitable"
! rowspan="4" |[[Ramayana]]
!
!References
!Notes
|-
|'''Valmiki version 1'''
|'''Vol 1:''' Balakandam - XXIX (29); Ayodhyakandam - XXV (25); '''Vol 2:''' Kishkindhakandam - LVIII (58); '''Vol 3:''' Yuddhakandam - XXXIX (39); '''Vol 4:''' Uttarakanda - XXVII (27)<ref>{{Cite book|last=Manmathnath Dutt|url=http://archive.org/details/Ramayana_201309|title=Ramayana|date=1891}}</ref>
| rowspan="3" |There are [[Versions of Ramayana|multiple versions]] of the Ramayana. Many are attributed to [[Valmiki]].
|-
|'''Valmiki version 2'''
|Bala Kanda: 28, 29; Ayodhya Kanda - 14, 25; Uttara Kanda - 4<ref>{{Cite book|last=Hari Prasad Shastri|url=http://archive.org/details/The.Ramayana.of.Valmiki.by.Hari.Prasad.Shastri|title=The Ramayana of Valmiki, translated by Hari Prasad Shastri - 3 Volumes Combined - 1709 Pages, with complete Outline|language=en}}</ref> 
|-
|'''Adhyatma Ramayana'''
|Ayodhya Kanda - V.19 (5.19); Uttara Khanda - VIII.29 (8.29)<ref>{{Cite book|last=Rai Bahadur Lala Baij Nath|url=http://archive.org/details/TheAdhyatmaRamayana|title=The Adhyatma Ramayana|date=1979}}</ref><br />
|}

==== Valmiki version 1 ====
{{blockquote|And assuming the form of a dwarf, he presented himself before [[Virochana]]'s son <nowiki>[</nowiki>[[mahabali|Bali]]<nowiki>]</nowiki>. And then asking for as much earth as could be covered by three footsteps, that one ever engaged in the welfare of all creatures, with the object of compassing the good of all, stood occupying the worlds. And having by his power restrained Vali [Bali], that one of exeeding energy, again conferred the three worlds upon the mighty [[Indra]].|source=Ramayana (translated by M.N. Dutt, 1891), Balakandam, Section XXIX (29)|sign=|title=}}

* Siddhacrama is the name of the Hermitage 'of the high-souled Vamana' (Vol 1, Balakandam - XXIX)

==== Valmiki version 2 ====
{{blockquote|"Upon this, the resplendent Vishnu was born of the womb of [[Aditi]] as the incarnation Vamana and disguised as a mendicant he approached king Bali. Of him, he requested a piece of ground that could be covered by three strides, and having obtained what he asked, he covered the whole universe in three steps.|source=The Ramayana of Valmiki (translated by H.P. Shastri, 1952), Bala Kanda, Chapter 29 (p.64)|sign=|title=}}

==== Adhyatma Ramayana ====
{{blockquote|Seeing her son's kingdom gone, (from the hands of [[Indra]] into those of [[mahabali|Bali]]), the [[Asura]] king, solicited by [[Aditi]], in days of yore assuming the form of a Dwarf-Man (Vamana), he brought it back by begging it of Bali.|source=The Adhyatma Ramayana (translated by R.B.L.B. Nath, 1979), Ayodhya Kanda, Chapter V.19|sign=|title=}}

== Mahapuranas ==

=== Agni Purana ===
{| class="wikitable"
! rowspan="2" |[[Agni Purana|Agni]]
!References
!Notes
|-
|4.5-11, 5.9, 25.38-39, 31.4, 31.14-17, 43.2, 47.2, 48.4, 63.6, 110.20, 116.26, 119.14-16, 172.6, 189.3-15, 219.42-46, 236.1-5, 236.15-21, 276.10, 276.14, 291.2-5a, 305.6<ref>{{Cite book|url=http://archive.org/details/AgniPuranaUnabridgedEnglishMotilal|title=Agni Purana Unabridged English Motilal|last=J. L. Shastri|first=G. P. Bhatt|date=1998-01-01}}</ref>
|
|}

{{blockquote|<poem>(He) re-established the celestials in their original places and was praised by the celestials. Once in the battle between the celestials and the [[Asura|Demons]], the celestials were defeated by (demon) [[Mahabali|Bali]] and other demons (and) were driven away from heaven (and) sought refuge in [[Hari]] ([[Vishnu]]). Having given refuge to the ''[[Deva (Hinduism)|devas]]'' he being praised by [[Aditi]] (wife of the latter... and mother of the celestials) and [[Kasyapa]] (a [[Rishi|sage]]) became a [[Dwarfism|Dwarf]] (as a son) of Aditi (and) went to the [[Yajna|sacrifice]] (performed by Bali... and) recited the [[Vedas]] at the royal gates of Bali the sacrificer.

Having heard him reciting the Vedas, the bestower of the wanted things (Bali) said to the Dwarf in spite of being obstructed by [[Shukra|Sukra]] (the [[preceptor]] of demons), "Whatever (you) desire I shall give (you)". The dwarf asked Bali, "Get (me) three [footsteps] of spaces for the sake of the preceptor. (Bali) said to him, "I shall give (you)". When the water was poured on the hand the Dwarf became a Giant (and) measured the worlds of ''Bhuh, Bhuvah'', and ''Svar'' [ground, sky, and Heaven] with the three strides and (sent) Bali to [[Sutala]] (a nether world) and (then) Hari (Vishnu) gave the worlds to Sakra ([[Indra]]). Sakra (Indra) praised Hari (Vishnu) along with the celestials (and) remained happy as ruler of the world.</poem>|source=Agni Purana (unabridged), translated by J.L. Shastri, G.P. Bhatt, and N. Gangadharan (1998), Chapter 4, Verses 5-11|author=|title=}}
[[File:Goddess Aditi.jpg|thumb|[[Aditi]].]]
The first brief account of the legend of Vamana in the Agni Purana, consisting of only 7 verses (or [[Slokas]]), has been quoted above in full. Notably, despite only being two paragraphs in length, it seems to contain all the fundamentals of the legend (i.e. more elaborate accounts consisting of several chapters still follow the same steps or formula):

# [[Indra]] and the devas are defeated by [[Mahabali|Bali]], the demonic king who now rules the three worlds 
# The devas ultimately seek refuge in [[Vishnu]], who is born to [[Aditi]] as Vamana the [[Brahmin]]-dwarf, to defeat Bali 
# Vamana attends a [[Yajna|Sacrifice]] being performed by the noble Bali, who ignores warnings about Vamana to knowingly grant three steps of land 
# Vamana repossesses the three worlds in three steps which are given to Indra who rules again, and Bali is sent to the Netherworld.

Other details include:

* [[Siddhashrama|Siddhasrama]] is stated to be 'the place where [[Vishnu]] manifested as the Dwarf' (5.9)
* Images of Vamana, [[Narasimha]], [[Hayagriva]], and [[Varaha]] should be placed in the south-east, south-west, north-west, and north-east, respectively (43.2)
* Vamana is stated to bear 'the [[Panchajanya|Conch]], [[Sudarshana Chakra|Disc]], [[Kaumodaki|Mace]], and [[Nelumbo nucifera|Lotus]]' (48.4)
* [[Agni]] details the means of worshipping Vamana, via observation of the ''Sravanadvadasi'' [[Vrata]] in the month of [[Bhadrapada]] (189.3-15)
* Of the 12 battles or wars between the [[Deva (Hinduism)|Devas]] and [[Asura]]s, the first involved [[Narasimha]], the second Vamana, and the third [[Varaha]] (276.10-11)
* Vamana should be worshipped at [[Kuruksetra]] (305.6)

=== Bhagavata Purana ===
{| class="wikitable"
! rowspan="2" |[[Bhagavata Purana|Bhagavata]]
!References
!Notes
|-
|1.3.19;<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://vedabase.io/en/library/sb/1/3/19/|title=Srimad Bhagavatam: Canto 1, Chapter 3, Verse 19|website=vedabase.io|language=en|access-date=2020-03-15}}</ref> 2.7.17;<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://vedabase.io/en/library/sb/2/7/17/|title=Srimad Bhagavatam: Canto 2, Chapter 7, Verse 17|website=vedabase.io|language=en|access-date=2020-03-15}}</ref> 5.24.18;<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://vedabase.io/en/library/sb/5/24/18/|title=Srimad Bhagavatam: Canto 5, Chapter 24, Verse 18|website=vedabase.io|language=en|access-date=2020-03-15}}</ref> 6.8.13,<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://vedabase.io/en/library/sb/6/8/13/|title=Srimad Bhagavatam: Canto 6, Chapter 8, Verse 13|website=vedabase.io|language=en|access-date=2020-03-15}}</ref> 6.18.8;<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://vedabase.io/en/library/sb/6/18/8/|title=Srimad Bhagavatam: Canto 6, Chapter 18, Verse 8|website=vedabase.io|language=en|access-date=2020-03-15}}</ref> 8.11, 8.13.6,<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://vedabase.io/en/library/sb/8/13/6/|title=Srimad Bhagavatam: Canto 8, Chapter 13, Verse 6|website=vedabase.io|language=en|access-date=2020-03-15}}</ref> 8.15-22;<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://vedabase.io/en/library/sb/8/|title=Srimad Bhagavatam: Canto 8: Withdrawal of the Cosmic Creations|last=Prabhupada|first=Swami|website=vedabase.io|language=en|access-date=2020-03-15}}</ref> 10.3.42,<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://vedabase.io/en/library/sb/10/3/42/|title=Srimad Bhagavatam: Canto 10, Chapter 3, Verse 42|website=vedabase.io|language=en|access-date=2020-03-15}}</ref> 10.62.2;<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://vedabase.io/en/library/sb/10/62/2/|title=Srimad Bhagavatam: Canto 10, Chapter 62, Verse 2|website=vedabase.io|language=en|access-date=2020-03-15}}</ref> 11.4.20;<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://vedabase.io/en/library/sb/11/4/20/|title=Srimad Bhagavatam: Canto 11, Chapter 4, Verse 20|website=vedabase.io|language=en|access-date=2020-03-15}}</ref> 12.12.20<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://vedabase.io/en/library/sb/12/12/20/|title=Srimad Bhagavatam: Canto 12, Chapter 12, Verse 20|website=vedabase.io|language=en|access-date=2020-03-15}}</ref>
|
|}

{{blockquote|<poem>[Bali said to [[Shukra|Sukra]]:] By giving charity, a benevolent and merciful person undoubtedly becomes even more auspicious, especially when he gives charity to a person like your good self. Under the circumstances, I must give this little [[brahmacari]] [Vamana] whatever charity He wants from me.

O great sage, great saintly persons like you, being completely aware of the [[Vedic]] principles for performing ritualistic ceremonies and [[yajna]]s, worship Lord [[Vishnu]] in all circumstances. Therefore, whether that same Lord Vishnu has come here to give me all benedictions or to punish me as an enemy, I must carry out His order and give Him the requested tract of land without hesitation.</poem>|source=Srimad Bhagavatam (translated by [[Swami Prabhupada]], 1977), Canto 8, Chapter 20, Verses 10-11}}
[[File:Shukra graha.jpg|left|thumb|[[Shukra]], preceptor of [[Mahabali|Bali]].]]
The main account of the legend of Vamana in the [[Bhagavata Puran]] is narrated by [[Shuka|Sukadeva Gosvami]] to King [[Pariksit]] (canto 8, chapters 15–22). Given its similarity to legends provided in the [[Harivamsa]], as well as the [[Matsya Purana|Matsya]], [[Vamana Purana|Vamana]], and [[Skanda Purana|Skanda Purunas]], it seems this account either shares a common source, or more likely (on the assumption the Bhagavata was written later) was [[Derivative work|derived]] from at least one of these other accounts. Quotes given below in the chapter summaries are taken from the chapter introductions provided by the [[Bhaktivedanta Book Trust]] (BBT) for conciseness.

After the [[Samudra manthan|Churning Of The Ocean Of Milk]] (see [[Kurma]]), [[Mahabali|Bali]] was defeated and killed by the [[Deva (Hinduism)|Devas]] led by [[Indra]], but was brought back by [[Shukra|Sukracarya]], who becomes his [[preceptor]] (or [[acarya]]; 11).<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://vedabase.io/en/library/sb/8/11/|title=Srimad Bhagavatam: Canto 8, Chapter 11|last=Prabhupada|first=Swami|website=vedabase.io|language=en|access-date=2020-03-15}}</ref> After performing the Visvajit-[[yajna]], and rebuilding his strength, Bali travels to the city of Indrapuri with his army for another battle with Indra, while '[[Brhaspati]] advised the demidevas to leave the heavenly planets and keep themselves somewhere invisible... [Then Bali], in performing one hundred [[asvamedha]]-yajnas... enjoyed the opulences of the heavenly planets' (15).<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://vedabase.io/en/library/sb/8/15/|title=Srimad Bhagavatam: Canto 8, Chapter 15|last=Prabhupada|first=Swami|website=vedabase.io|language=en|access-date=2020-03-15}}</ref> [[Aditi]], to help her son Indra, performs penances to [[propitiate]] [[Vishnu]], as taught by [[Kashyapa]] (16).<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://vedabase.io/en/library/sb/8/16/|title=Srimad Bhagavatam: Canto 8, Chapter 16|last=Prabhupada|first=Swami|website=vedabase.io|language=en|access-date=2020-03-15}}</ref> [[Krishna]], 'being very pleased by the ''[[Payovrata|payo-vrata]]'' ceremony performed by Aditi... agreed to become her son' (17).<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://vedabase.io/en/library/sb/8/17/|title=Srimad Bhagavatam: Canto 8, Chapter 17|last=Prabhupada|first=Swami|website=vedabase.io|language=en|access-date=2020-03-15}}</ref>

After Vamana is born and assumes the form of a dwarf, the [[Jatakarma]] (birthday) and sacred thread ceremonies are performed. Vamana then visits the sacrificial arena [of Bali] on the northern side of the [[Narmada River]], at the field known as Bhṛgukaccha, where [[Brahmin|brahmanas]] of the [[Bhrigu]] dynasty were performing [[yajna]]s... after washing the Lord's feet, Bali [[Maharaja]] immediately accepted the water from the Lord's feet on his head and felt that he and his predecessors had certainly been glorified. Then Bali Maharaja inquired of Lord Vamanadeva's welfare and requested the Lord to ask him for money, jewels or anything He might desire' (18).<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://vedabase.io/en/library/sb/8/18/|title=Srimad Bhagavatam: Canto 8, Chapter 18|last=Prabhupada|first=Swami|website=vedabase.io|language=en|access-date=2020-03-15}}</ref>

[[File:Maharishi Bhrighuji.jpg|thumb|[[Bhrigu]].]]
Vamana praises [[Hiranyakasipu]] and [[Hiranyaksa]] before asking for three footsteps of land. However, [[Shukra|Sukracarya]] knows the dwarf is Vishnu acting on behalf of Indra, and so forbids Bali to gift anything (19).<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://vedabase.io/en/library/sb/8/19/|title=Srimad Bhagavatam: Canto 8, Chapter 19|last=Prabhupada|first=Swami|website=vedabase.io|language=en|access-date=2020-03-15}}</ref> As it 'is the duty of a householder to maintain the principles of religion... Bali Maharaja thought it improper to withdraw his promise... Lord Vamanadeva then immediately extended Himself into a universal body. By the mercy of Lord Vamanadeva, Bali Maharaja could see that the Lord is all-pervading and that everything rests in His body... The Lord gradually covered the entire surface of the world, and by extending His body He covered the entire sky. With His hands He covered all directions, and with His second footstep He covered the entire upper planetary system. Therefore, there was no vacant place where He could take His third footstep' (20).<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://vedabase.io/en/library/sb/8/20/|title=Srimad Bhagavatam: Canto 8, Chapter 20|last=Prabhupada|first=Swami|website=vedabase.io|language=en|access-date=2020-03-15}}</ref>

Seeing Bali deprived of everything in two steps, angry demons attack Vamana, but are defeated and - on Bali's order - are banished to the [[Patala|netherworld]]. Bali is arrested and bound with the rope of [[Varuna]] by [[Garuda]], before Vishnu asks for the third step of land promised. However, as 'Lord Vishnu appreciated Bali Maharaja's determination and integrity, when Bali Maharaja was unable to fulfill his promise, Lord Vishnu ascertained that the place for him would be the planet [[Sutala]], which is better than the planets of heaven' (21).<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://vedabase.io/en/library/sb/8/21/|title=Srimad Bhagavatam: Canto 8, Chapter 21|last=Prabhupada|first=Swami|website=vedabase.io|language=en|access-date=2020-03-15}}</ref> Bali remembers the devotion of his grandfather, [[Prahlada]], and so offers his head to Vishnu for the third step; pleased with this [[Bhakti|devotion]], Krishna offers 'His [[Sudarshana Chakra|disc]] to protect Bali Maharaja' and promises to remain with him as a doorkeeper (22).<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://vedabase.io/en/library/sb/8/22/|title=Srimad Bhagavatam: Canto 8, Chapter 22|last=Prabhupada|first=Swami|website=vedabase.io|language=en|access-date=2020-03-15}}</ref> Other details include:

* Vamana is the 15th overall incarnation of Krishna (1.3.19)
*Vamana is stated to have had a wife called Kirti with whom 'He begot one son, named Bṛhatsloka, who had many sons, headed by Saubhaga' (6.18.8). Aiyangar states that Kirti means 'Fame', Brihat-soka means 'great praise', and Sanbhaga means 'Happiness'.<ref name=":14" /> The only other mention of a wife is made in the [[Vishnu Puran]], whose name there is stated to be Padma or Kamala (see below)
* According to the [[Brahma Vaivarta Purana|Brahmavaivarta Puran]], Aditi performed a different ceremony to beget Vamana, called the ''Supunyaka [[Vrata]]'' (see below)
* The 'kaccha' from 'Bhrgukaccha' (8.18) refers to [[Kurma|tortoises]], as well as to soil<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://spokensanskrit.org/index.php?mode=3&script=hk&tran_input=kaccha&direct=au&anz=100|title=Sanskrit Dictionary for Spoken Sanskrit: 'kaccha'|website=spokensanskrit.org|access-date=2020-03-15}}{{Dead link|date=October 2025 |bot=InternetArchiveBot }}</ref>
* [[Krishna]] informs his parents, [[Vasudeva]] and [[Devaki]], that He was also previously their son as Vamana (also known as Upendra) when they were [[Kashyapa]] and [[Aditi]] (10.3.42)
* [[Banasura|Bana]], the eldest son of Bali, was a [[Shaivism|devotee]] of [[Shiva]] and 'especially satisfied the lord by playing a musical accompaniment with his one thousand arms' (10.62.2)

=== Brahma Purana ===
{| class="wikitable"
! rowspan="2" |[[Brahma Purana|Brahma]]
!References
!Notes
|-
|57.36-42, 58.24, 70.13-20, 71.29-35, 75.14-20, 104.70-98; Gautami-Mahatmya: 4, 52.29-43, 52.68-73<ref>{{Cite book|url=http://archive.org/details/brahma_purana_english_full|title=Brahma Purana - Parts I - IV|last=Motilal Banarsidass|date=1955-01-01}}</ref>
|}

==== First account ====
{{blockquote|With the soles of his feet and the palms of his hands he [Vamana] crushed [[Daityas]]. He assumed a great and terrible form and roamed over the Earth. As he grew in size and roamed over the Earth, the moon and the sun at first stood on a level with his chest. When he flew up in the sky they stood against his umbilicus. When he of unmeasured prowess further grew in size they stood on a level with his knees.|source=Brahma Purana (unknown translator, 1955), Chapter 104, Verses 94-96|author=|title=}}

Although the first account of the legend of Vamana in [[Brahma Purana]] is brief and otherwise entirely typical in nature, it is notable that 20 of the 28 verses focus on detailing the names and attributes of the [[Asura]]s that either attacked and/or were destroyed by Vamana. The remaining 8 verses (or [[slokas]])  relay the legend itself, whereby Vishnu adopts the dwarf-form of Vamana, attends 'the [[yajna]] of the powerful [[Mahabali|Bali]]', crushes the demons in His gigantic form, and returns control of the three worlds to [[Indra]].

==== Second account ====
{{blockquote|After standing firmly on the back of the [[Kurma|tortoise]] he [Vamana] placed a step in the sacrificial hall of [[Mahabali|Bali]]. He, the eternal lord, placed the second step over the whole world. Then he said to Bali: "O lord of [[Asura]]s, there is no place for the third step. Where shall I place the third step? Give me the ground." Laughingly Bali said with palms joined in reverence. He was accompanied by his wife. ["]The entire universe has been created by you, O lord of [[Deva (Hinduism)|Devas]]. I am not a creator. Due to your fault it has become too small, O lord of cosmic identity. Still I have never uttered a lie, nor will I ever utter a lie proving me to be a man of truthful statement. Step on my back["].|source=Brahma Purana (unknown translator, 1955), Gautami-Mahatmya, Chapter 4, Verses 48-52}}

[[File:Brahma on hamsa.jpg|left|thumb|[[Brahma]] on Hamsa.]]
The second account of the legend of Vamana consists of an entire chapter (Gautami-Mahatmya: 4; 68 verses). Narrated by [[Brahma]] to [[Narada]], it differs from the usual accounts insofar as the devas led by [[Indra]] are 'defeated' not in a literal battle, but rather by the good and noble qualities of the invincible [[Mahabali|Bali]], under whose rule 'there were no enemies, no ailments, no anxieties in any way.. While Bali was ruling over the kingdom, none of these was seen even in dream, viz. [[famine]], evil, [[Atheism|denial of God]], [or] wickedness'. Jealous and miserable, the devas seek refuge in [[Vishnu]], who states Bali is a [[Vaishnavism|devotee]], 'cannot be conquered by [[Deva (Hinduism)|Devas]] or [[Asura]]s', but can be bound 'by means of words with miraculous power' to return the kingdom to them.
Vishnu enters the womb of [[Aditi]] and is born as the dwarf, Vamana. Assuming the form of a [[Brahmin]], Vamana then attends the sacrifice of Bali 'singing [[Samaveda|Saman]] verses'. The [[preceptor]] of the demons, [[Shukra|Sukra]] - a descendant of [[Bhrgu]] - warns Bali and his wife about Vamana, and Bali responds 'Blessed I am because the lord of [[Yajna|sacrifices]] is coming to my house so unexpectedly'.

Vamana requests three steps of land, this is granted by Bali, and Vamana grows in size, covering all of existence in two steps, as quoted above. Pleased with Bali, Vamana offers a boon but Bali does not wish for anything. The three worlds are returned to Indra, and Bali and his family are sent to the [[Sutala|netherworld]].

=== Brahmanda Purana ===
{| class="wikitable"
! rowspan="2" |[[Brahmanda]]
!References
!Notes
|-
|'''Part 1:''' --;<ref>{{Cite book|last=G.V.Tagare|url=http://archive.org/details/BrahmandaPuranaG.V.TagarePart1|title=Brahmanda Purana - English Translation - Part 1 of 5|date=1958}}</ref> '''Part 2:''' 33.25, 37.4-5;<ref>{{Cite book|last=G.V.Tagare|url=http://archive.org/details/BrahmandaPuranaG.V.TagarePart2|title=Brahmanda Purana - English Translation - Part 2 of 5|date=1958}}</ref> '''Part 3:''' 72.14b-16, 72.73, 72.77-78, 73.75-87, 74.26;<ref>{{Cite book|last=G.V.Tagare|url=http://archive.org/details/BrahmandaPuranaG.V.TagarePart3|title=Brahmanda Purana - English Translation - Part 3 of 5|date=1958}}</ref> '''Part 4:''' --;<ref>{{Cite book|last=G.V.Tagare|url=http://archive.org/details/BrahmandaPuranaG.V.TagarePart4|title=Brahmanda Purana - English Translation - Part 4 of 5}}</ref> '''Part 5:''' --<ref>{{Cite book|last=G.V.Tagare|url=http://archive.org/details/BrahmandaPuranaG.V.TagarePart5|title=Brahmanda Purana - English Translation - Part 5 of 5|date=1959}}</ref>
|
|}

{{blockquote|<poem>When [[mahabali|Bali]], the lord of [[Daityas]] and the son of [[Virocana]], was performing a [[yajna|sacrifice]], he [Vishnu] became a [[Brahmin|Brahmana]], the delighter of the family of [[Aditi]] and spoke thus to Bali at an auspicious time :-

"You are the king of the three worlds. Everything is vested in you. It behoves you, O king, to give me three paces of land", so said the lord.

"I shall of course give", said the king Bali, the son of Virocana. Thinking of him to be only a dwarf he became glad and offered the same. That Vamana, O excellent Brahmanas, the lord covered the entire universe by means of three paces, viz., heaven, ether, and Earth.</poem> |source=Brahmanda Purana, (translated by G.V. Tagare, 1958), Part 3, Chapter 73, Verses 75-78|author=|title=}}

A brief account of the legend of Vamana is provided in the [[Brahmanda Purana]] (Part 3: 73.75-87). It is notable as one of the few accounts where Bali is neither forewarned nor aware of the true nature of Vamana, or the consequences for gifting a three footsteps of land. In addition, while Bali and other '[[Asura]]s along with their sons and grandsons' are driven to [[Sutala]] by Vamana, the 'cruel ones among them were [also] killed'. After the [[Deva (Hinduism)|Devas]], [[Danavas]] (including [[Mahabali|Bali]]), and human beings see the gigantic universal form of Vamana - containing the universe within it - the three worlds are bestowed back to the 'noble-souled' leader of the Devas, [[Indra]]. Other details include:

* The tip of one of [[Vishnu]]'s toes, while He took the three steps to reclaim the three worlds from [[Mahabali|Bali]], created the [[Ganges]] river (37.4-5)
* Of the 12 battles or wars between the [[Deva (Hinduism)|Devas]] and [[Asura]]s, the first involved [[Narasimha]], the second Vamana, and the third [[Varaha]] (72.73)
* Bali is described as 'noble-minded' and as a 'great [[Yogi]]n' (74.26)

=== Brahmavaivarta Purana ===
{| class="wikitable"
! rowspan="2" |[[Brahma Vaivarta Purana|Brahmavaivarta]]
!References
!Notes
|-
|'''Part 1:''' Prakrti-Khanda - 42 (385), Ganapati-Khanda - 6 (p.&nbsp;528), 38 (667); '''Part 2:''' Krsna-Janma-Khanda - 7 (65), 9 (74), 10 (81), 12 (85), 22 (193), 40 (322; Shiva turns into a 'dwarf Brahmana boy'), 47 (378; meeting Indra), 61 (431), 82 (525), 110 (671), 115 (695), 119 (706)<ref>{{Cite book|url=http://archive.org/details/357106450BrahmavaivartaPurana2SanskritTextWithEnglishTranslationPdf|title=Brahmavaivarta Purana (Volume 1: Brahma, Prakrti, and Ganapati Khandas, and Volume 2: Krsna-Janma Khanda)|last=Nager|first=Shanti Lal}}</ref>
|The Nager translation (in two parts) does not provide verse numbers. Page numbers have been provided instead.
|}

{{blockquote|[Vamana said:] O [[Indra]], definitely the universe is of various types and the [[Kalpa (aeon)|kalpas]] are also different while the Brahmandas are innumerable. In these Brahmandas several [[Brahma]], [[Vishnu]], [[Mahesvara]] and Indras have emerged. Who can count their numbers but I am aware of all of them. O best of the gods, even if one is able to count the particles of dust on earth, in spite of that the number of Indras cannot be counted... The life and sovereignty of Indra is limited to four [[yuga]]s. After the fall of twenty eight Indras, a day of Brahma is counted.|source=Brahmavaivarta Purana (translated by R.N. Sen, 1920), Krsna-Janma-Khanda, 47 (p.379)|author=|title=}}

[[File:Vishnu as Vamana (dwarf-avatar.jpg|thumb|Vamana.]]
The legend of Vamana quoted above seems to be unique to the [[Brahmavaivarta Purana]] (Krsna-Janma-Khanda: Chapter 47). In this account, [[Visvakarma]] is employed by [[Indra]] to rebuild the city of ''[[Amaravati]]'' after it is destroyed. A year later, with Indra still not satisfied and unable to return to his abode, Visvakarma seeks the help of [[Brahma]]. Brahma in turn seeks the help of [[Vishnu]], who incarnates in the 'form of a Brahmana boy... He wore a serene smile on his face which was quite charming'. Indra becomes arrogant and haughty after being asked about the length of time Visvakarma must be engaged, so as quoted above, Vamana points out there have been innumerable Indras in innumerable [[Hindu cosmology|universes]].


Countless thousands of ants appear, and Vamana states to Indra that every one of them was previously enthroned as an [[Indra]]. He adds that all the ants had achieved their positions - high and low - because of their [[Karma]]s, alone. A sage called Lomasa arrives later, and asked why a patch of hair was missing from his chest, states that he loses a hair every time an Indra dies. He adds that there have been innumerable Brahmas, and that yet with 'the fall [death] of [a] [[Brahma]], [[Vishnu]] winks but once'. Vamana -  who turns out to be '[[Shiva]] in the form of Vishnu' - and Lomasa disappear. Indra, looking at 'the whole scene like a dream', is left more humbled and intelligent. Visvakarma is thus generously rewarded with riches for his work by Indra and sent back to his own abode.

A more typical account of Vamana is also provided elsewhere in the [[Purana]]. Quoted below, it is given as one of a series of examples where Indra becomes arrogant and so has his pride shattered by [[Vishnu]] (Indra's pride and humbling is also the premise of other legends such as that of [[Kurma]], the tortoise incarnation):

{{blockquote|In the earlier times [[Indra]], after [[Samudra manthan|churning the ocean]], consumed the [[Amrita|nectar]] and defeated the [[Asura|demons]]. As a result of this he was inflated with pride. Thereafter lord [[Krsna]] got his pride shattered through [[Mahabali|Bali]]. All the gods like Indra and others had been deprived of their glory. Thereafter with the reciting of the stotra of [[Brhaspati]] and performing of the vratas by [[Aditi]], the lord was pleased and he incarnated himself as the incarnation of Vamana from the womb of Aditi. Thereafter the compassionate lord begged from Bali for his kingdom and restored [[Indra|Mahendra]] to the gem-studded lion-throne and well established the gods.|source=Brahmavaivarta Purana (translated by R.N. Sen, 1920), Krsna-Janma-Khanda, 61 (p.431)}}Other details include:

* It is stated that Bali consumes the [[Yajna|sacrifices]] improperly performed (also stated in other texts such as the [[Harivamsa]] and [[Vamana Purana]]; Part 1: Prakrti-Khanda - 42)
* The ''Supunyaka'' [[Vrata]] (vow) is undertaken by women ('in the bright thirteenth day of the moon in the month of [[Magha (month)|Magha]]') to propitiate [[Krishna]] and through His favour beget a son; it is stated that [[Aditi]] performed the ''Supunyaka'' [[Vrata]] to get 'a son who happened to be the dwarf incarnation' (Part 1: Ganapati-Khanda - 6); According to the [[Bhagavata Puran]], Aditi instead performed the ''[[payovrata]]'' (see above).
* The [[Prajapati]] Sutapa and his wife Prsni pleased [[Vishnu]] so much with their [[Tapas (Indian religions)|tapas]] (religious austerities) that he agreed to be their son, including a second time as Vamana in their [[Reincarnation|incarnations]] as [[Kashyapa]] and [[Aditi]], and ultimately a third time as [[Krishna]] in their incarnations as [[Vasudeva]] and [[Devaki]] (Part 2: Krsna-Janma-Khanda - 7)
* Ratnamala, the daughter of Bali, 'felt attracted towards Vamana and desired to have him as her son, she had thought in her mind that the son like him should be fed by her from her breasts'. Her wish was granted by [[Vishnu]]: incarnated as [[Putana]], the demoness breastfed poison to baby [[Krishna]] before being killed (and therefore [[Moksha|liberated]]) by Him (Part 2: 10 and 115)
* [[Shiva]] incarnated as a dwarf Brahmana - described almost identically to Vamana - when concerned for [[Parvati]], who had grown weak due to practising austerities (Part 2: 40); this may be a reference to Vajasaneyi Samhita (White Yajurveda, Book 16, see above).

=== Garuda Purana ===
{| class="wikitable"
! rowspan="2" |[[Garuda Purana|Garuda]]
!References
!Notes
|-
|'''Part 1:''' '''Vamana:''' 1.27, 15.3, 45.5, 45.20, 86.10-11, 131.3, 131.10-16; '''Bali:''' 6.45-46, 87.36, 113.15-16;<ref>{{Cite book|url=http://archive.org/details/dli.bengal.10689.20541|title=THE GARUDA-PURANA PART. 1|last=N.A.|date=1957|publisher=MOTILAL BANARSIDASS PUBLISHERS PVT. DELHI}}</ref> '''Part 2:''' '''Vamana:''' 194.10, 196.7, 233.3; '''Bali (Narayana Bali):''' Dharma Kanda - 4.103, 4.113-115;<ref>{{Cite book|url=http://archive.org/details/dli.bengal.10689.21508|title=THE GARUDA-PURANA PART. 2|last=N.A.|date=1957|publisher=MOTILAL BANARSIDASS PUBLISHERS PVT. DELHI}}</ref> '''Part 3:''' '''Vamana:''' 15.20, 23.79, 26.63-66, 29.53; '''Bali:''' 27.8-9<ref>{{Cite book|url=http://archive.org/details/dli.bengal.10689.12942|title=THE GARUDA-PURANA PART. 3|last=N.A|date=1957|publisher=MOTILAL BANARSIDASS PUBLISHERS PVT. LTD, DELHI}}</ref>
|Part 3 (Brahma Moska Kanda) 1.51-52 classifies Puranas.
|}

{{blockquote|<poem>Obeisance to [[Karma]] which forces [[Brahma]] to work like a [[Pottery|potter]] in the bowels of [the] [[cosmos]] by which [[Vishnu]] was cast into distress of [[Dashavatara|ten incarnations]]; by which [[Rudra]] was compelled to beg for alms with a skull in his hand and at the behest of which the [[sun]] goes round and round in the sky.

The donor was King [[Mahabali|Bali]], the receiver Lord Vishnu himself, the gift consisted of the whole Earth and that too in the presence of learned [[brahmin]]s. What did he get in return? Only bondage. O fate! obeisance to Thee - who workest as it pleasest thee.</poem>|source=Garuda Purana, translated by 'a board of scholars' (1957), Part 1, Chapter 113, Verses 15-16}}

It seems that the legend of Vamana is only briefly mentioned in the [[Garuda Purana]], such as in the example quoted above. Other details include:

* 'Vamana' is one of the 1,000 names of Vishnu ([[Vishnu Sahasranama]]), as is 'Balibandhanakrt' ('who fettered the demon bali'), Trivikrama ('having three steps'), and 'Bali' (Part 1: 15.3)
* The [[Salagrama]] stone for Vamana 'is circular and short' (Part 1: 45.20)
* Vamana is listed as fifth in [[Dashavatara]], the ten principle incarnations of [[Vishnu]] (Part 1: 86.10-11)
* 'Vamana' is one of the names of Vishnu to repeat at a sacred rite to take place 'On the eighth day in the dark half mingled with the Rohini star' (Part 1: 131.3; 10–16)
* Bali is stated by [[Hari]] to be the son of [[Virocana]], grandson of [[Prahlada]], the son of [[Hiranyakasipu]] (killed by the [[Narasimha]] avatar of Vishnu), and to have had 100 sons of his own, the eldest being [[Banasura|Bana]]  (Part 1: 6.45-46)
* During the reign of the next (eighth) [[Manu (Hinduism)|Manu]] called [[Savarni Manu|Savarni]], Bali will be elected to the post of [[Indra]] (Part 1: 87.36)
* It is stated that the 'idol of dadhivamana [Vamana] should have the size of [a] barley corn. It should be round, blue in hue, slender in proportion and of pleasant aspect. It should wield a pair of wheels, five [[Gopuram|gopuras]], bow and arrow. It should be straight and round and adorned with a garland of wild flowers. It should contain a thousand heads, a silvery dot on the right side of the forehead and an auspicious semicircular mark on the left and the full moon in the middle. Such auspicious gifts are attended by good fortune to the donor' (Part 2: 26.63-66)

=== Kurma Purana ===
{| class="wikitable"
! rowspan="2" |[[Kurma Purana|Kurma]]
!References
!Notes
|-
|16.46-69, 44.62, 49.33-36<ref>{{Cite book|url=http://archive.org/details/kurmapuranaTRkashirajtrust1972|title=Kūrmapurāṇa (Kashiraj Trust edition with English translation)|last=Gupta|first=Anand Swarup|date=1972}}</ref>
|
|}

{{blockquote|<poem>Then after some time, [[Mahabali|Bali]], the son of [[Virocana]], worshipped the omnipresent [[Vishnu]], the lord of [[Yajna|sacrifices]], with sacrificial offerings. He adored the [[Brahmin|Brahmanas]] with offerings of plenty of wealth, and the Brahman-[[Rishi|sages]] came thither to the sacrificial hall of the high-souled (Bali). Learning about it, lord Vishnu, urged by [[Bharadvaja]], came to the sacrificial spot, assuming the form of a [[Dwarfism|dwarf]]. Wearing a black-coloured deer-skin, and sacred thread and holding a Palasa rod. the Brahmana (formed Vishnu) with matted hair and besmeared with ashes, came thither reciting the [[Vedas]]. Approaching near the [[Asura|demon]]-king, the mendicant [[Hari]] begged of king Bali land, measuring three steps of his feet. Taking the golden vasel, and rinsing his mouth, the devout Bali washed the feet of Vishnu, and contemplating about the resolve 'I will give unto thee the land covered by three steps of thine, may the undecaying Hari be propitiated’, [and then] dropped cool water on the finger-tips of the lord.

Thereupon the primeval lord placed his steps on the earth, the sky and then the heaven with the object of detracting the demon-king who had sought shelter with him from the worldly attachment. Treading upon the triple world; the feet of the lord extended from the region of [[Prajapati]] to that of [[Brahma]]. The [[Siddha]]s who dwelt there bent down in obeisance to that lord who was equal to thousand suns in lustre.</poem>|source=Kurma Purana (translated by A.S. Gupta, 1972), Chapter 16, Verses 46-54|author=|title=}}

In the [[Kurma Purana]], there are two accounts of Vamana.

==== First account ====
[[File:God Vamana.jpg|thumb|Vamana.]]

In the first account, following the part quoted above, Vamana covering all three worlds in three steps splits the [[cosmic egg]], and the consequent flow of water rushing into it is 'termed by [[Brahma]]' as the [[Ganges]]. Vamana then tells [[Mahabali|Bali]] that he will be banished to the netherworld until merging with Him at the time of dissolution (i.e. at the end of the [[Kalpa (aeon)|Kalpa]], which lasts 1,000 [[Yuga]]s in total). Vamana gives the three worlds back to Indra before disappearing in front of everyone's eyes. In the [[Patala|nether world]], the devotee Bali  seeks instruction from his grandfather, [[Prahlada]], to worship and seek refuge in [[Vishnu]] (16.46-69).

Prahlada is also directly linked with the legend of [[Narasimha]], the fourth (man-lion) [[Dashavatara|incarnation]] of Vishnu, who killed [[Hiranyakashipu]]. Hiranyakashipu is the father of Prahlada, great-grandfather of Bali, and elder brother of [[Hiranyaksha]]. The latter was killed by [[Varaha]], the third (boar) incarnation of Vishnu. Both Hiranyakashipu and Hiranyaksha themselves are the first of three incarnations of [[Jaya-Vijaya|Jaya and Vijaya]], the doorkeepers of Vishnu cursed by the [[Four Kumaras]].

==== Second account ====
In a second and much briefer account, it is stated that in 'this [[Vaivasvata]] Manuvantra, Vishnu was born of [[Kashyapa]] and [[Aditi]] as Vamana. Winning the three worlds with his three steps, this high-souled lord gave in to [[Indra]] the triple world bereft of all obstacles... Since this entire world was entied by the high-souled Vamana, therefore he is called by all as Vishnu due to the root 'Vis' (to enter) involved herein' (49.33-36). Vaivasvata, also known as ''Shraddhadeva Manu'', is the current and seventh of fourteen total [[Manu (Hinduism)|Manus]] that rule the current [[Kalpa (aeon)|Kalpa]] in succession. Vaivasvata is also directly linked with the legend of [[Matsya]], the first (fish) incarnation of [[Vishnu]], who rescued him from the [[Flood myth|deluge]] at the end of the reign of the sixth Manu, ''[[Chakshusha]]''.

=== Linga Purana ===
{| class="wikitable"
! rowspan="2" |[[Linga Purana|Linga]]
!References
!Notes
|-
|'''Part 1:''' 45.11, 65.54b-60, 91.52, 95.46;<ref>{{Cite book|url=http://archive.org/details/LingaPuranaJ.L.ShastriPart1|title=Linga Purana - English Translation - Part 1 of 2|last=J.L.Shastri|date=1951}}</ref> '''Part 2:''' 96.17-22, '''Section II:''' 6.23, 48.31-32;<ref>{{Cite book|url=http://archive.org/details/LingaPuranaJ.L.ShastriPart2|title=Linga Purana - English Translation - Part 2 of 2|last=J.L.Shastri|date=1951}}</ref>
|Part 2 continues up to chapter 108 and then starts at chapter 1 again.
|}

{{blockquote|You held aloft the Mandara mountain in the form of a [[Kurma|tortoise]]; the earth was lifted up by the [[Varaha|Boar]]. With [the] [[Narasimha|leonine form]], [[Hiranyakasipu]] was killed. Again [[Mahabali|Bali]] was bound by you in the form of Vamana taking up three steps. You alone are the unchanging lord of all living beings.|source=Linga Purana (translated by J.L.Shastri), Part 1, Chapter 96, Verse 17-22|author=|title=}}

In the [[Linga Purana]], the legend of Vamana is only briefly mentioned, as quoted above. Other details include:

* 'Vamana' and 'Trikrama' ('one who has taken three steps') are listed as two of the 1,000 names of [[Shiva]] (Part 1: 65.54b-60)
* Matala, the netherworld or Hell, 'is occupied by [[Ananta (infinite)|Ananta]], [[Muchukunda|Mucukunda]] and king [[Mahabali|Bali]] who is the resident of [[Patala]] and [[Svarga]]' (Part 1: 45.11)
*It is stated that '[[Om]]kara is identical with the three worlds, the three [[Vedas]], the three sacrificial fires, the three steps of [[Vishnu]], the three scriptures, viz. Rk, Samans and Yajur [[mantra]]s' (Part 1: 91.52)
*Vamana is listed in the Dashavatara, or ten principle [[Dashavatara|incarnations]] of [[Vishnu]] (Part 2: 48.31-32)

=== Markandeya Purana ===
{| class="wikitable"
! rowspan="2" |[[Markandeya Purana|Markandeya]]
!References
!Notes
|-
|V.56;<ref>{{Cite book|url=http://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.163375|title=Markandeya Puranam.|last=Dutt|first=Manmatha Nath|date=1896}}</ref>
|
|}

It seems that in the [[Markandeya Purana]], the legend of Vamana is not mentioned.

=== Matsya Purana ===
{| class="wikitable"
! rowspan="2" |[[Matsya Purana|Matsya]]
!References
!Notes
|-
|'''Vamana:''' XLVII.72-75, (47.72-75), XLVII.213-244 (47.213-244), LII.18 (52.18), CCXLIV-CCXLVI (244-246); '''Bali:''' VI.6-10 (6.6-10), XLVII.41-57 (47.41-57), CXXV.1 (135.1), CLXXXVII.38-42 (187.38-42) <ref>{{Cite book|url=http://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.135360|title=The Matsya Puranam|last=Taluqdar|first=a|date=1916}}</ref>
|}

{{blockquote|<poem>[Bali said] "Lord Vamana, you look so dear and charming. I shall be please to give you heaps of gold, gems, elephants, horses, fairest women, clothes, ornaments, villages, [and] the land of the seven oceans. Ask for out of these that you make like best. I will give that to you". When [[Mahabali|Bali]] uttered such words with so much feeling, Lord Vamana smiled and gravely said - "King, give Me simply land measured by My three [footsteps]. Give gems, gold, villages, etc., to those who ask for them". Bali said - "Why do you ask for three [footsteps] of land only? What purpose of yours will be served by that? You are most welcome to take [a] hundred or thousand [footsteps] of land". Vamana said - "I shall be amply satisfied with this much land. I only want this much. The rest of your gifts you may confer on other people who ask for them".

Hearing those words of Vamana, the demon king Bali gave three [footsteps] of land to the Lord. After the Lord has received the promise that Bali would make the required gift, He instantly began to grow, who is composed of all the Devas. He had the [[Sun]] and the [[Moon]] for His eyes, Heaven was His forehead, the earth became His feet...</poem>|source= Matsya Purana (translated by A. Taluqdar, 1916), Chapter CCXLVI (246), Verses 45-53}}
[[File:Vamana, the Dwarf-Incarnation of Vishnu.jpg|thumb|left|Vamana with [[Mahabali|Bali]], painting by the [[Mahesh of Chamba]] ([[fl.]] c. 1730 - 1770). [[Rietberg Museum]]]]
In the [[Matsya Purana]], three chapters are dedicated to the legend of Vamana. It has elements and descriptions very similar to that of the [[Vamana Purana]] in particular. In this account, [[Shaunaka]] tells [[Arjuna]] that after [[Indra]] is vanquished by the [[Asura]]s, his mother, [[Aditi]], 'the mother of the [[Âdityas|Devas]] began to practise rigid austerities. For one thousand years she worshipped Lord [[Krishna]] by living on air alone, and on seeing Her children oppressed by the [Asuras] she said to Herself that Her sons were born in vain'. [[Vishnu]], pleased with the devotion of Aditi, agrees to her request to restore Indra to power and states 'I shall therefore be born of you through [[Kashyapa]] when I shall kill all the demons'&nbsp;(CCXLIV / 244).

After the demons lose their lustre, [[Mahabali|Bali]] enquiries from his grandfather and [[Vaishnavism|Devotee of Vishnu]], [[Prahlada]], what the reason is. Meditating on [[Hari]], Prahlada has a vision of Vamana and informs Bali, who initially scoffs but apologises after being cursed as 'indiscriminate, vicious and disrespectful'. Upon the birth of Vamana, 'all the Devas, even the Demons, men, earth, heaven, [and the] sky became peaceful', while [[Brahma]] prays and performs the appropriate birth ceremonies. Brahma gives Vamana a (Black) deerskin to wear, [[Vrihaspati]] the sacred thread, [[Marichi]] (Son Of Brahma) the Danda, [[Vasishtha|Vasitha]] the Kamandala, [[Angira]] gives Kusa grass and the [[Vedas]], [[Pulaha]] the Aksasutra (Rosary Beads), and [[Pulastya]] the white raiment. As Vamana proceeds to the sacrifice of King Bali, the 'portion of the land on which Vamana put His feet in walking sank down and a deep hole appeared there and He made the whole world with all its mountains to oceans... quiver though He walked slowly' (CCXLV / 245).

[[File:Kashyapa muni statue in Andhra Pradesh.JPG|thumb|[[Kashyapa]].]]
Bali enquires from his preceptor [[Shukra]] why his sacrifices are not being accepted by [[Agni]], and is informed Vamana is coming to the sacrifice. Although realising that [[Vishnu]] cannot be refused, Bali is still considers it 'uncommon good fortune that the Lord, for whose sake various asceticism, gifts, sacrifices, etc., are performed' will accept his offering in person. Bali offers any riches or any amount of land Vamana chooses, but is requested to give only three steps.

Upon agreement, Vamana 'spread His vast Form and He measured the earth in the twinkling of an eye', and spreading over the three worlds, 'killed the great Asuras for the benefit of the Devas'. Vamana gives the three worlds to [[Indra]] and the nether regions to Bali, with the promise that after '[[Vaivasvata Manu]] [7th and current ruling [[Manu (Hinduism)|Manu]]] is succeeded by [[Savarni Manu]], you will become Indra [i.e. King Of The devas]'. Vamana also mentions that as Bali in 'ancient times' had worshipped Him most devoutly, he can go to live in [[Patala]], 'abounding in excellent gardens, palaces, luxuriant flowers, lakes, rivers' etc. Vamana then vanishes (CCXLVI / 246). Other details include:

* The oldest of [[Mahabali|Bali]]'s 100 sons is [[Banasura|Bana]], who had 1,000 arms (VI.6-10 / 6.6-10)
*Bali reigned for 20,080,000 years (XLVII.55-57 / 47.55-57)
* The queen of Bali is ''Vindhyabali'' (CLXXXVII.38-42 / 187.38-42)
* The place where Bali performed sacrifices is called ''Ilavrita Varsa'', 'famous as being the birthplace of all the [[Deva (Hinduism)|Devas]]' (CXXV.1  / 135.1)
* [[Shuka]] states 'O [[Prahlada]], your grandson, King [[Mahabali|Bali]], will reign with all glory, in different realms for, even, Lord [[Vishnu]] will promise this secretly to your grandson, when He will deprive him of his kingdom in His Dwarf incarnation... [[Shiva]], the most supreme Lord of the entire universe, has spoken to me, as a secret, that Bali will be the future King of the [[Deva (Hinduism)|Devas]] [i.e. [[Indra]]], and therefore He, invisible to all, is awaiting that time, O Prahlada'. (XLVII.213-244 / 47.213-244)
* It is stated "''Namah Karanavamanya'' on the fore of the teeth [is] sacred to [the] [[Svati]] [[Asterism (astronomy)|asterism]] and [the] Vamana (Dwarf) [[Dashavatara|incarnation]]" (LII.18 / 52.18)

=== Narada Purana ===
{| class="wikitable"
! rowspan="2" |[[Narada Purana|Narada]]
!References
!Notes
|-
|'''Part 1:''' 2.9-11, 2.40, 11, 17.59-61, 40.30;<ref name=":11">{{Cite book|url=http://archive.org/details/dli.bengal.10689.12945|title=THE NARADA-PURANA PART. 1|last=N.A|date=1950|publisher=MOTILAL BANARSIDASS PUBLISHERS PRIVATE LIMITED, DELHI DELHI}}</ref> '''Part 2:''' 51.82b-83 (Bali: food offering);<ref>{{Cite book|url=http://archive.org/details/dli.bengal.10689.20659|title=THE NARADA-PURANA PART. 2|last=N.A.|date=1950|publisher=MOTILAL BANARSIDASS PUBLISHERS PVT. DELHI}}</ref> '''Part 3:''' 66.44-49, 66.86-100, 68.59-60 (Bali: food offering) 70.24-27, 71.154-156,<ref>{{Cite book|url=http://archive.org/details/dli.bengal.10689.21516|title=THE NARADA-PURANA PART. 3|last=N.A.|date=1952|publisher=MOTILAL BANARSIDASS PUBLISHERS PVT. DELHI}}</ref> '''Part 4:''' 120.36b-41a, 121.23b-24; Uttarabhaga - 29.41<ref>{{Cite book|url=http://archive.org/details/dli.bengal.10689.12976|title=THE NARADA-PURANA PART. 4|last=N.A|date=1952|publisher=MOTILAL BANARSIDASS PUBLISHERS PVT. LTD, DELHI}}</ref> '''Part 5:''' Uttarabhaga - 46.46, 56.48-50, 56.26-29, 56.48-50, 65.29b-30a, 65.91-92 <ref>{{Cite book|url=http://archive.org/details/dli.bengal.10689.12978|title=THE NARADA-PURANA PART. 5|last=N.A|date=1952|publisher=MOTILAL BANARSIDASS PUBLISHERS PVT. LTD, DELHI}}</ref>
|The Narada Purana focuses on worship and rituals.
|}

{{blockquote|<poem>Thereafter, the highly blessed [[Aditi]], who was extremely glad and was respected all over the world, in due course of time gave birth to a son whom the whole world paid obeisance. He was named Vamana. He was holding a [[Panchajanya|Conch]] and a [[Sudarshana Chakra|Discus]] in his hands. He was quiescent. He shone in the middle of the lunar sphere. The pot of nectar and curds mixed with cooked rice were in his hands. He was Lord [[Vishnu]] himself resembling [a] thousand suns in brilliance. He eyes were like a full blown [[Nelumbo nucifera|lotus]]. He was adorned with all ornaments and was clad in a yellow garment.

Realising that [[Hari]] who was worthy of being eulogised and was the sole leader of all the worlds, had manifested himself accompanied by hosts of sages, [[Kashyapa]] [husband of Aditi and father of the [[Adityas]] and [[Asura]]s/[[Daitya]]s] was overwhelmed with joy. With palms joined in reverence, he bowed to him and began to praise him.</poem>|source=Narada Purana, unknown translator (1952), Part 1, Chapter 11, Verses 68-71}}
In the [[Narada Purana]], the legend of Vamana is given in chapter eleven. The (anonymous) translator in footnote 12 to this chapter (p.&nbsp;208) states that the 'gift of land has been highly praised as the most meritorious, from ancient times. Apararka quotes many verses from the [[Vishnudharmottara Purana|Visnudharmottara Puran]], the Aditya Purana and [[Matsya Purana]]... and states that there is no gift comparable to the gift of land. Verses pertaining to land-grant are common not only in [[Puranas]] or [[Smrti]] works but are recorded on inscriptions and copper-plates of such grants all over India'.<ref name=":11" />

In this account, [[Vishnu]] visits and offers [[Aditi]] a boon, being pleased with her penances. Aditi requests that her sons, the [[Deva (Hinduism)|Devas]], be restored to power, but without 'any harm unto [the] [[Daitya]]s, since they too are my sons' (i.e. via her sister and co-wife of [[Kashyapa]], [[Diti]]). Vishnu agrees, and promises to be born as her son, Vamana. Praised by Kashyapa upon His birth before taking 'leave of his mother and father, that [[Brahmin|Brahmana]] bachelor Vamana, went over to the great sacrifice of the supremely affluent Daitya [<nowiki/>[[Mahabali|Bali]]], that was being performed'. [[Shukra|Sukra]] warns Bali and advises him not to give anything to Vamana, but Bali refuses, stating 'O preceptor, you should not tender such advice which is contrary to the path of virtue. If Visnu himself partakes of oblations or gifts, what can be better than that?' Vamana arrives, is greeted by Bali in reverence, and explains the virtues of gifting lands to [[Brahmin|Brahmanas]] with the story of Bhadramati before asking for 'a plot of land measuring three steps'. As Bali takes up a pitcher of water to offer the land, Sukra attempts to obstruct the flow of water to prevent the offering, but Vamana uses the tip of Kusa/Darbha grass to touch the spout of the pitcher and completes it.

'Vishnu, that Soul of the Universe began to grow in size till he reached the abode of [[Brahma]]', and taking three steps, pierces the crust of the [[World egg|Cosmic Egg]]. The water that flows in and washes His feet 'thereby became pure and sanctified the world... It was served as resorted by the [[Saptarishi|seven sages]] (The [[Ursa Major]]). Then it fell on the top of mount Meru' to become the [[Ganges]]. The three worlds are thus return to the Devas, Bali is given [[Patala|Rasatala]] 'along with all his [[Asura]]s', and Vamana goes to a 'forest for performing penance'&nbsp;(11). Other details include:

* On the [[Dvadasi]] day in the bright half of the month of [[Asadha]], one should fast and worship Vamana, who 'is the bestower of intellect' (e.g. Part 1: 17.59-61, Part 4: 120.36b-41a)
* Chapter 10 details the defeat of the Devas by Bali, where the [[Asura]]s also attempt to convince [[Aditi]] to stop her penances to Vishnu (Part 1: 10)
* During the eighth ''[[Manvantara]]'' (i.e. reign of the 8th of 14 total [[Manu (Hinduism)|Manus]] in this [[Kalpa (aeon)|Kalpa]]; currently we are ruled by the seventh) thanks 'to the power of the [[Puja (Hinduism)|Puja]] of [[Vishnu]], Bali is remembered as their [[Indra]] [i.e. King of the devas]' (Part 1: 40.30)
* 'Bali' is mentioned as a food offering (rice ball) in sacrifices several times throughout (e.g. Part 2: 51.82b-83 and Part 3: 70.24-27)
*Vamana is stated to have been 'installed by all the Devas' at [[Kotitirtha Tank|Kotitirtha]] (Part 5: 65.29b-30a)

=== Padma Purana ===
{| class="wikitable"
! rowspan="2" |[[Padma Purana|Padma]]
!References
!Notes
|-
|'''Part 1:''' 30;<ref>{{Cite book|url=http://archive.org/details/padma_purana_part1_english|title=Padma Purana Part 1 Srishti Khanda Motilal Banarsidass 1988|last=N. A. Deshpande|date=1988-01-01}}</ref> '''Part 2:''' 38 (legend of [[Rama|Ram]] and an image of Vamana), 41.33b-35, 41.178, 75.90;<ref>{{Cite book|url=http://archive.org/details/padma_purana_part2_english|title=Padma Purana Part 2 Srishti Khanda Motilal Banarsidass 1989|last=N. A. Deshpande|date=1989-01-01}}</ref> '''Part 3:''' 19.29, 19.60-71, 32.32-54, 66.129-151a, 75.1-6, 76.25-33, 87.10-24;<ref>{{Cite book|url=http://archive.org/details/dli.bengal.10689.21960|title=THE PADMA-PURANA PART. 3|last=N.A.|date=1951|publisher=MOTILAL BANARSIDASS PUBLISHERS PVT. DELHI}}</ref> '''Part 4:''' 98.52-78;<ref>{{Cite book|url=http://archive.org/details/dli.bengal.10689.12948|title=THE PADMA-PURANA PART. 4|last=N.A|date=1952|publisher=MOTILAL BANARSIDASS PUBLISHERS PVT. LTD, DELHI}}</ref> '''Part 5:''' --;<ref>{{Cite book|url=http://archive.org/details/dli.bengal.10689.21800|title=THE PADMA-PURANA PART. 5|last=N.A|date=1952|publisher=MOTILAL BANARSIDASS PUBLISHERS PVT. DELHI}}</ref> '''Part 6:''' 78.16b-43;<ref>{{Cite book|url=http://archive.org/details/dli.bengal.10689.22055|title=THE PADMA-PURANA PART. 6|last=N.A|date=1952|publisher=MOTILAL BANARSIDASS PUBLISHERS PVT. DELHI}}</ref> '''Part 7:''' 45.49-52, 53.2-16, 66.44-54, 71.23-29a, 71.199-212, 78.16.29, 78.44;<ref>{{Cite book|url=http://archive.org/details/dli.bengal.10689.12949|title=THE PADMA-PURANA PART. 7|last=N.A|date=1952|publisher=MOTILAL BANARSIDASS PUBLISHERS PVT. LTD, DELHI}}</ref> '''Part 8:''' 120.51b-73, 133.2-12, 138.1-15, 160;<ref>{{Cite book|url=http://archive.org/details/dli.bengal.10689.12952|title=THE PADMA-PURANA PART. 8|last=N.A|date=1952|publisher=MOTILAL BANARSIDASS PUBLISHERS PVT. LTD, DELHI}}</ref> '''Part 9:''' 218.10-16, 228.14-18, 229.40-44, 240;<ref>{{Cite book|url=http://archive.org/details/dli.bengal.10689.12954|title=THE PADMA-PURANA PART. 9|last=N.A|date=1956|publisher=MOTILAL BANARSIDASS PUBLISHERS PVT. LTD, DELHI}}</ref> '''Part 10:''' 6.175-190, 11.25-30;<ref>{{Cite book|url=http://archive.org/details/dli.bengal.10689.21961|title=THE PADMA-PURANA PART.10|last=N.A.|date=1956|publisher=MOTILAL BANARSIDASS PUBLISHERS PVT. DELHI}}</ref>
|
|}

{{blockquote|<poem>[[Bhishma]] said: Having reached the sacrificial mountain the powerful [[Vishnu]] planted his foot (-steps) there. What is the purpose of this line of the foot (-steps) which the lord of lords planted?... O great sage [<nowiki/>[[Pulastya]]], tell me which demon he subdued after having planted his foot (-steps) there. The residence of Vishnu is in heaven, the great-souled one lives in [[Vaikuntha]]. How is it that he planted his foot (-step) in the human world?...

Tell me in detail, O [[Brahmin|Brahman]], how (is it that the lord), leaving these worlds, planted his two foot-steps on the earth and (how is it that he) planted his foot steps on the sacrificial mountain in this place, viz. [[Pushkaram]], which is sacred to [[Brahma]].</poem>|source=Padma Purana (translated by N.A. Deshpande, 1988), Part 1, Chapter 30 ('Origin of Visnu's Steps'), Verses 1-8|author=|title=}}

In the [[Padma Purana]], two accounts of the legend of Vamana are given.

==== First Account ====
[[File:Vamana 1825.jpg|thumb|Vamana.]]

The first is related by the sage [[Pulastya]] to [[Bhishma]] (Part 1: chapter 30), which took place 'formerly in the [[Satya Yuga]]'. Similar to the legend of [[Vritra]] in the [[Bhagavata Puran]], [[Mahabali|Baskali]] (i.e. Bali) conquers the devas led by [[Indra]] after attaining the boon of invincibility from [[Brahma]], forcing them to ultimately seek [[Vishnu]] for refuge. Vishnu agrees to help, and [[Aditi]] (Wife Of [[Kashyapa]]) is pregnant for 1,000 divine years with the Vamana [[Dashavatara|incarnation]]. It is noted that Aditi 'entertained a malicious design' to destroy the demons during her pregnancy.

At 'the time as ordained, the god, the lord of lords (i.e. Visnu), kind to all beings, of pure and scanty hair, having the beauty of the moon, the conch and the (sun-) rise, became (i.e. was born as) Aditi's son'. Vamana later travels with Indra to the city of Baskali to request three steps of land. To the amazement of Indra, in the city there 'was no religious merit, no lore, no architecture, no art that did not exist (i.e. that was not found)', and even the [[Vedas]] were being recited by 'virtuous demons'. Baskali himself 'was conversant with righteousness, was grateful, truth-speaking, and had his senses controlled'.

Delighted, Baskali compares seeing Indra to sacrifices like the [[Yajna|Agnistoma]] and [[Rajasuya]]. Indra praises Baskali and requests three steps of land for the dwarf-[[brahmin]] to have a fire-sanctuary to make sacrifices. Baskali praises and  surrenders to Vamana as Vishnu who 'has performed a hundred sacrifices endowed with excellent sacrificial fees', adding that Vishnu 'killed [[Vrtra]] Namuci' (a legend also related to the development of the [[Narasimha]] incarnation).<ref name=":52">{{Cite book|last=Soifer|first=Deborah A.|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4YoydqgcseYC&q=vamana+satapatha+brahmana&pg=PR13|title=The Myths of Narasimha and Vamana: Two Avatars in Cosmological Perspective|date=1991-11-08|publisher=SUNY Press|isbn=978-0-7914-0800-1|pages=30, 38–39|language=en}}</ref> Although advised by [[Shukra|Sukra]] to gift nothing to Vamana or else face total destruction, Baskali considers himself lucky to be able to surrender to Vishnu and wants to give everything. Indra repeats that only three steps of land are requested, and 'Baskali then gave (the piece of land measured by) three (foot-) steps to the dwarf, after (pouring) water (on his hand), saying 'Let [[Hari]] himself be pleased with me'.

The first step of Vamana is on the [[sun]], the second is on [[Dhruva]] (the polar star), and the third reaches outside the universe. Water rushing in through the crack in the edge of the universe caused by the tip of Vishnu's toe becomes the river Visnupadi (i.e. the [[Ganges]]), an auspicious and [[holy river]]. Vishnu offers Baskali a boon, and is requested only for increased devotion and a death at His hands in order to enter the realm even 'inaccessible to the ascetics'. Vishnu agrees and promises to kill Baskali when they incarnate and battle as [[Varaha]] and [[Hiranyaksha]], respectively. Otherwise, after being deposed, 'Baskali lived happily in the netherworld [while] Indra also protected the three worlds'.

==== Second account and other details ====
{{blockquote|Then at the end of a thousand years Aditi gave birth to Vamana, [[Vishnu]], Acyuta, [[Hari]], the lord, who was the great lord of all the worlds, who had Srivatsa and [[Kaustubha]] on his chest, whose lustre was like that of the full moon, who was handsome, whose eyes were like lotuses, whose body was very short... who could be known by means of the [[Vedas]] and [[Vedangas]], who was marked with such signs as a girdle, a (piece of) deer-hide, and a staff. Seeing him of a great vigor, all deities led by [[Indra]]. along with great sages, praised and saluted him.|source=Padma Purana (translated by N.A. Deshpande, 1988), Part 9, Chapter 240 ('Visnu incarnates as Vamana'), Verses 1-5a|author=|title=}}

The second account, narrated by Mahadeva (i.e. [[Shiva]]), is much shorter and more typical in nature. In this, Vamana is implored by the devas to visit the sacrifice of Bali to request the three worlds from him. Vamana, this time alone without Indra, is greeted and worshipped by Bali, explains the merit of donating land, and requests three steps, which is granted despite the protests of [[Shukra|Sukra]]. Vamana then 'abandoned his dwarfish form... extending up to fifty [[crore]]s (of [[yojana]]s) he seized the earth along with the seas and mountains, along with the oceans, islands, devas, demons and human beings'. As [[Vishnu]] places his second and third steps, creating the sacred [[Ganges]] in the process, [[Mahabali|Bali]] is granted the ability to see his universal '[[Janardana]]-form' (similar to that witnessed by [[Arjuna|Arjun]] in the [[Bhagavad Gita]]). Other details include:

* The 'three objects' (Trivarga) of worldly existence specified by Baskali (i.e. Bali) are [[Dharma]], [[Artha]], and [[Kama]] (Part 1: 30.94)
* 'Vamana' is listed as one of the hundred names of Vishnu (Part 3: 87.10-24)
* Vamana 'removed, with the auspicious glances, the sin of [[Mahabali|Bali]]... lord Vamana, shining in the group of [[Brahmin|Brahmanas]] at the [[Pravargya|head of the sacrifice]], adorned with Brahmanic glory (Part 4: 98.52-78)
*Vamana should be worshipped - amongst other devas - during [[Amalaka Ekadashi|Amalaki Ekadasi]] (Part 7: 45.49-52)
*In the Hymn called 'Apamarjana', Vamana is assigned to 'the roots of the ears' (Part 7: 78.16.29)
*The 'round and small' [[salagrama]] stone is called 'Vamana' (Part 8: 120.51b-73)
*[[Vishnu]] as Vamana is stated to dwell in Holy places called [[Kanyakubja]] and Vamana[[Tirtha (Hinduism)|tirtha]] (Part 8: 133.2-12 and 160)
*Reference is made to a sage called Vamana who, amongst others, served [[Shiva]] due to the grace of [[Ganesha]] (Part 8: 138.1-15)
*Vamana is listed in the Dashavatara, the ten principle incarnations of [[Vishnu]] (Part 7: 66.44-54, 71.23-29, and Part 9: 229.40-44)

=== Shiva Purana ===
{| class="wikitable"
! rowspan="2" |[[Shiva Purana|Shiva]]
!References
!Notes
|-
|'''Part 1:''' 51.14-15 (Bana, son of Bali);<ref>{{Cite book|url=http://archive.org/details/SivaPuranaJ.L.ShastriPart1|title=Siva Purana - English Translation - Part 1 of 4|last=J.L.Shastri|date=1950}}</ref> '''Part 2:''' Kumara-Khanda: 9.18; Yuddha-khanda: 16.7, 35.31, 51.14-15;<ref>{{Cite book|url=http://archive.org/details/SivaPuranaJ.L.ShastriPart2|title=Siva Purana - English Translation - Part 2 of 4|last=J.L.Shastri|date=1950}}</ref> '''Part 3:''' Satarudra-Samhita: 11.20; Uma-Samhita: 10.35-40, 10.45-46 (Bali as an offering or tribute);<ref>{{Cite book|url=http://archive.org/details/SivaPuranaJ.L.ShastriPart3|title=Siva Purana - English Translation - Part 3 of 4|last=J.L.Shastri|date=1950}}</ref> '''Part 4:''' Uma-Samhita: 48.44; Vayaviya-Samhita: 30.56-58, 31.134-136<ref>{{Cite book|url=http://archive.org/details/SivaPuranaJ.L.ShastriPart4|title=Siva Purana - English Translation - Part 4 of 4|last=J.L.Shastri|date=1950}}</ref>
|
|}

{{blockquote|Formerly, multitudes of creatures moving about in the one vast ocean have been split by your lordship in the form of a Fish [<nowiki/>[[Matsya]]] by binding them with your tail. You support the earth in the form of a Tortoise [<nowiki/>[[Kurma]]]. You lifted it up in the form of a Boar [<nowiki/>[[Varaha]]]. In the form of a Man-Lion [<nowiki/>[[Narasimha]]] [[Hiranyakashipu|Hiranyaksipu]] has been killed [by you]. Again in the form of a Dwarf [Vamana], you had bound [[Mahabali|Bali]]. You are the origin of all living beings. You are the eternal lord.|source=Shiva Purana (translated by J.L.Shastri, 1950), Part 3 (Satarudra Samhita), Chapter 11, Verses 18-20}}

It seems that the legend of Vamana is only briefly mentioned in the [[Shiva Purana]]. The translator, J.L.Shastri, notes in the fourth part (page 1659, footnote 93) that '[[Patala]] is called Balisadman - the abode of [[Mahabali|Bali]]. According to a legend God [[Vishnu]] in the form of a [[Brahmin|Brahman]] [[Dwarfism|dwarf]] craved from Bali the boon of three steps of ground and having obtained it stepped over heaven and earth in two strides but then out of respect to Bali's devotion and his grandson [[Prahlada]]'s virtues, he stopped short and left to him Patala, the nether region'. However, Prahlada is actually the grandfather of Bali (being the son of [[Hiranyakashipu]]), not his grandson as incorrectly stated by Shastri. Other details include:

* Bali conquering the devas led by [[Indra]] is a prelude to the legend of the [[Kurma]] incarnation, where the [[Deva (Hinduism)|Devas]] and [[Asura]]s form a pact to churn of the [[ocean of milk]] (Part 2: 15). [[Mahabali|Bali]] is present at the churning where a 'great battle for the possession of [[Amrta]] ensued between the devas and the Asuras', and after gaining possession of it, where [[Vishnu]] incarnates as [[Mohini]] to give the Amrita to the devas (Part 3: 22)
* [[Aniruddha]] (incarnation / grandson of [[Krishna]]) sneaks into the residence of [[Banasura|Bana]] (son of [[Mahabali|Bali]]) to form an alliance with Usa (daughter of Bana; Part 2: 51–53). This legend is repeated in other [[Puranas]] such as the [[Srimad Bhagavatam]].
* The eldest son of Bali, [[Banasura|Bana]] 'became a devotee of [[Shiva]]. He was highly respected and intelligent' (Part 1: Rudra-Samhita: 51.14-15)
* There is a mountain called Vamana (Part 3: Uma Samhita: 18.47)
*[[Hiranyakashipu|Hiranyaksipu]], [[Hiranyaksa]], [[Virocana]] (Bali's father) 'and [[Mahabali|Bali]] worship [[Shiva]] every day' (Part 4: Kotirudra-Samhita 37.18); the exception is Prahlada (son of Hiranyaksipu, father of Virocana, and grandfather of Bali) who does not [[Shaivism|worship Shiva]] but instead [[Vaishnavism|worships Vishnu]]
* Vamana is listed in the Dashavatara, the ten principle incarnations of [[Vishnu]] (Part 4: Vayaviya-Samhita: 30.56-58 and 31.134-136)

=== Skanda Purana ===
{| class="wikitable"
! rowspan="2" |[[Skanda Purana|Skanda]]
!References
!Notes
|-
|'''Part 1:''' 8.90, 18–19;<ref>{{Cite book|url=http://archive.org/details/dli.bengal.10689.12961|title=THE SKANDA-PURANA PART. 1|last=N.A|date=1950|publisher=MOTILAL BANARSIDASS PUBLISHERS PVT. LTD, DELHI}}</ref> '''Part 2:''' 62.53;<ref>{{Cite book|url=http://archive.org/details/dli.bengal.10689.13010|title=THE SKANDA-PURANA PART. 2|last=N.A|date=1950|publisher=MOTILAL BANARSIDASS PUBLISHERS PVT. LTD, DELHI}}</ref> '''Part 3:''' Purvardha - 6.51b-53, 11.14;<ref>{{Cite book|url=http://archive.org/details/dli.bengal.10689.20835|title=THE SKANDA-PURANA PART. 3|last=N.A.|date=1951|publisher=MOTILAL BANARSIDASS PUBLISHERS PVT. DELHI}}</ref> '''Part 4:''' Venkatacala Mahatmya - 20.77-82;<ref>{{Cite book|url=http://archive.org/details/dli.bengal.10689.13009|title=THE SKANDA-PURANA PART. 4|last=N.A|date=1951|publisher=MOTILAL BANARSIDASS PUBLISHERS PVT. LTD, DELHI}}</ref> '''Part 5:''' Purusottama-Ksetra Mahatmya - 37.12-17 (Bali as offering), 44.12;<ref>{{Cite book|url=http://archive.org/details/dli.bengal.10689.20756|title=THE SKANDA-PURANA PART. 5|last=N.A.|date=1951|publisher=MOTILAL BANARSIDASS PUBLISHERS PVT. DELHI}}</ref> '''Part 6:''' Karttikamasa-Mahatmya - 9.49b-60;<ref>{{Cite book|url=http://archive.org/details/dli.bengal.10689.20761|title=THE SKANDA-PURANA PART. 6|last=N.A.|date=1951|publisher=MOTILAL BANARSIDASS PUBLISHERS PVT. DELHI}}</ref> '''Part 7:''' Vaisakhamasa Mahatmya - 4.16, 18.21-23, 27.25-26;<ref>{{Cite book|url=http://archive.org/details/dli.bengal.10689.13008|title=THE SKANDA-PURANA PART. 7|last=N.A|date=1951|publisher=MOTILAL BANARSIDASS PUBLISHERS PVT. LTD, DELHI}}</ref> '''Part 8:''' Setu Mahatmya - 3.81-82, 10.50-51 (Bali as offering), 37.20, 46.36;<ref>{{Cite book|url=http://archive.org/details/dli.bengal.10689.22054|title=THE SKANDA-PURANA PART. 8|last=N.A.|date=1953|publisher=MOTILAL BANARSIDASS PUBLISHERS PVT. DELHI}}</ref> '''Part 9:''' --;<ref>{{Cite book|url=http://archive.org/details/dli.bengal.10689.21994|title=THE SKANDA-PURANA PART. 9|last=N.A.|date=1953|publisher=MOTILAL BANARSIDASS PUBLISHERS PVT. DELHI}}</ref> '''Part 10:''' Purvardha - 5.44, 21.12;<ref>{{Cite book|url=http://archive.org/details/dli.bengal.10689.13007|title=THE SKANDA-PURANA PART.10|last=N.A|date=1953|publisher=MOTILAL BANARSIDASS PUBLISHERS PVT. LTD, DELHI}}</ref> '''Part 11:''' Uttarardha - 58.53, 58.158-164, 61.220, 82.111, 84.20;<ref>{{Cite book|url=http://archive.org/details/dli.bengal.10689.13006|title=THE SKANDA-PURANA PART.11|last=N.A|date=1955|publisher=MOTILAL BANARSIDASS PUBLISHERS PVT. LTD, DELHI}}</ref> '''Part 12:''' Avantiksetra Mahatmya - 48.42-50, 63.1-8, 63.86, 63.238-270, 70.54-56;<ref>{{Cite book|url=http://archive.org/details/dli.bengal.10689.22009|title=THE SKANDA-PURANA PART.12|last=N.A.|date=1955|publisher=MOTILAL BANARSIDASS PUBLISHERS PVT. DELHI}}</ref> '''Part 13''': Caturasiti-Linga Mahatmya - 26.40-44;<ref>{{Cite book|url=http://archive.org/details/dli.bengal.10689.20764|title=THE SKANDA-PURANA PART.13|last=N.A.|date=1955|publisher=MOTILAL BANARSIDASS PUBLISHERS PVT. DELHI}}</ref> '''Part 14:''' Reva Khanda - 48.15-24;<ref>{{Cite book|url=http://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.100076|title=The Skanda-purana Part.14|last=Not Available|date=1957}}</ref> '''Part 15:''' Reva Khanda - 149.7-15, 151.1-7, 230.31-40;<ref>{{Cite book|url=http://archive.org/details/dli.bengal.10689.20778|title=THE SKANDA-PURANA PART.15|last=N.A.|date=1957|publisher=MOTILAL BANARSIDASS PUBLISHERS PVT. DELHI}}</ref> '''Part 16:''' Nagara Khanda - 24.5-17, 51.44;<ref>{{Cite book|url=http://archive.org/details/dli.bengal.10689.13005|title=THE SKANDA-PURANA PART.16|last=N.A|date=1958|publisher=MOTILAL BANARSIDASS PUBLISHERS PVT. LTD, DELHI}}</ref> '''Part 17:''' --;<ref>{{Cite book|url=http://archive.org/details/dli.bengal.10689.13004|title=THE SKANDA-PURANA PART.17|last=N.A|date=1958|publisher=MOTILAL BANARSIDASS PUBLISHERS PVT. LTD, DELHI}}</ref> '''Part 18:''' Nagara Khanda - 244.7, 273.4-6;<ref>{{Cite book|url=http://archive.org/details/dli.bengal.10689.13003|title=THE SKANDA-PURANA PART.18|last=N.A|date=1960|publisher=MOTILAL BANARSIDASS PUBLISHERS PVT. LTD, DELHI}}</ref> '''Part 19:''' Prabhasa-Kestra-Mahatmya - 19.96-97, 81.18, 81.25, 83.54-56 (Bali as oblation), 114;<ref>{{Cite book|url=http://archive.org/details/dli.bengal.10689.13002|title=THE SKANDA-PURANA PART.19|last=N.A|date=1960|publisher=MOTILAL BANARSIDASS PUBLISHERS PVT. LTD, DELHI}}</ref> '''Part 20:''' Prabhasa Khanda - 167.66-68<ref>{{Cite book|url=http://archive.org/details/dli.bengal.10689.13000|title=THE SKANDA-PURANA PART.20|last=N.A|date=1960|publisher=MOTILAL BANARSIDASS PUBLISHERS PVT. LTD, DELHI}}</ref>
|Bali is mentioned as offerings / oblations throughout part 9 (e.g. 6.17-19 and 6.44).
|}

{{blockquote|When he obstructed the flow of water at the time of the gift of the earth by [[Mahabali|Bali]] (to Vamana), [[Bhargava]] (i.e. [[Shukra|Sukra]]) lost his eye on being pricked with the tip of the [[Cynodon dactylon|Darbha grass]] held in his hand by [[Vishnu]] (i.e. Vamana). He went to Sonacala and performed a very difficult penance. With his soul purified, he regained his eye.|source= Skanda Purana (Unknown translator, 1951), Part 3 (Purvardha), Chapter 6, Verses 51b-53}}

Notably, this above-quoted incident is not mentioned in either of the two legends of Vamana given in the [[Skanda Purana]].

==== First account ====
[[File:Vamana avatar; Vaman before King Bali and consort. Gouache d Wellcome V0044941.jpg|left|thumb|Vamana, [[Mahabali|Bali]], and  Vindhyabali.]]

In the first account (part 1, chapters 18–19), after being defeated by the [[Daitya]]s (led by [[Mahabali|Bali]]), the shamed [[Deva (Hinduism)|Suras]] (led by [[Indra]]) disguise themselves as different animals and go to the [[Hermitage (religious retreat)|hermitage]] of [[Kashyapa]] and [[Aditi]] for refuge. Aditi wishes to help the Suras, so on the advice of Kashyapa, she performs the ''Ekabhakta'' rite for [[Vishnu]] for a year (details and instructions are provided, including the most auspicious timings and star [[constellation]]s). Pleased with Aditi's holy penance, [[Janardana]] (Vishnu), on 'the [[Dvadasi]] day which coincided with [the] [[Shravana|Sravana]] constellation [appeared in] the form of a [[Brahmacarin]] (religious student). He was two-armed and had lotus-like eyes. He had the colour of the flower of Atasi ([[Hemp]]). He was adorned with a garland of sylvan flowers'.

Pondering how to defeat the Daityas, Vamana first orders his [[Kaumodaki|gada]] (mace) to kill Bali, but it replies that this is impossible as Bali is 'a great [[Brahmin|Brahmanya]] (well-versed in the [[Vedas]], friendly and hospitable to [[Brahmin|Brahmanas]])'. His [[Sudarshana Chakra|discus]] and [[Sharanga (Hindu mythology)|Sarnga bow]] give the same reply when ordered to kill Bali, too: 'Just as you are Brahmanya, O [[Vishnu]], so is this great Daitya [called Bali] also'. Meanwhile, the Daityas conquer heaven (abandoned by the Suras) and install Bali on Indra's throne. Bali's previous life as a sinful gambler is recounted, before it is revealed Aditi completed her [[Vrata]] (vow) - upon which Vamana, 'Aditi's son in the form of a great religious student' appeared&nbsp; - just before Bali's 100th [[Ashvamedha|horse-sacrifice]].

At the sacred thread ceremony performed by [[Kashyapa]] for Vamana, [[Brahma]] gives the sacred thread, [[Chandra|Soma]] gives the staff, the Earth gives two [[sandal]]s, and [[Bhavani]] gives [[alms]]. Also given a girdle and deer-hide by unknown parties, Vamana proceeds to Bali's next sacrifice. Although Bali is willing to give the Brahmin the whole earth, Vamana requests only three steps of land, before [[Shukra|Sukra]] warns Bali that the religious student ('Batu') is [[Vishnu]] in disguise, and in relation to the [[Kurma]] incarnation, that Vishnu had previously incarnated as [[Mohini]] to take the [[Amrita]] away from the Daityas to give to the Suras (Chapter 18).

In the next chapter, Bali states that he intends to give whatever is asked as 'Lord [[Hari]], the soul of everyone has come here out of sympathy for me, in order to redeem me'. Sukra curses Bali for ignoring his advice and retreats to a Hermitage. There is no mention of Sukra attempting to block the offering or losing his eye. Vamana takes two steps, the first covering the earth and the second all existence; the water used by [[Brahma]] to wash the foot of Vishnu that took the second step produces the [[Ganges]]. Vamana returns to His original size, and through [[Garuda]], admonishes and binds Bali for only gifting two steps, not three as promised (since all existence had been covered in only two). Vindhyavali, Bali's wife, sees through this ruse and offers the heads of Bali, her son [[Banasura|Bana]], and herself for [[Vishnu]] to step on. Delighted, Vishnu releases Bali from his bonds, instructs Bali to rule in [[Sutala]], and offers a boon. Bali states 'I do not wish for anything except your lotus-like feet, O Lord'. Vishnu promises to be Bali's gatekeeper forever, and all 'the beggars and mendicants of the three worlds went to Bali. Visnu who stood at the entrance to his abode, granted to them whatever they desired to get'. The account then ends with a eulogy to [[Shiva]], by whose favour 'that Bali became thus' (i.e. happy and blessed; Chapter 19).

==== Second account and other details ====
In the second account (part 12, chapter 63, verse 237 onward), after the request of the devas granted a boon by [[Vishnu]], Vamana is born 'as the delighter of [[Aditi]]' some time later. At this time Bali was performing 'a hundred [[Ashvamedha|horse sacrifices]] with a desire to take away the kingdom of [[Indra]]'. Vamana, singing 'the Mantras of all the four Vedas', arrives at Bali's sacrifice officiated by figures such as [[Kashyapa]] and [[Bhrgu]]. Announced by the doorkeepers, Vamana is taken by Bali to the centre of the hall, and asked His reason for coming as well as whatever He may desire.

Vamana requests three steps of land. Bali offers much more, but Vamana repeats he wishes for three steps of land. Against the advice of [[Bhrgu]] ([[Shukra|Sukra]] in the first account), this is granted by Bali, and 'Hari immediately occupied the cosmos. The entire region of [the] earth including mountains, forests and jungles was covered by two and a half [footsteps]'. Having conquered the [[Asura]]s, Vamana gives the three worlds back to Satakratu ([[Indra]]) and returns to earth. The remainder of the chapter concerns the merits of the Vamana [[Tirtha (Hinduism)|Tirtha]] (holy site) related to this legend. Other details include:

* The city of [[Mahabali|Bali]] in [[Patala]] (i.e. the netherworld) is called [[Bhogavati]] (Part 3: Purvardha: 11.14)
* The 12-month ''Jyesthapancaka [[Vrata]]'' to [[Vishnu]] is described in detail, including mention of Vamana (Part 5: 44.12)
*Bali requests from Vamana that if 'people offer lamps to [[Naraka]] [Hell] on the fourteenth day [of [[Dipavali]], the festival of lights], all their forefathers shall cease to be in [[Naraka]]' (Part 6: Karttikamasa-Mahatmya - 9.49b-60)
*In the procedure for [[Puja (Hinduism)|Puja]] [[Mandala]] Construction for [[Vaishnavism|Vishnu worship]], Vamana, along with the [[Gautama Buddha]], should be installed at 'the front of the eastern filament... both of them dark as a cloud (in complexion), compassionate, quiescent, celibate, wearing sacred thread and white garments, holding a full bloomed lotus in the right hand, [and] the left hand indicating ''Abhaya'' (protection from fear) by its position' (Part 7: Vaisakhamasa Mahatmya: 27.25-26)
*When the murti of Vamana is installed in the house 'he makes people prosperous' (Part 11: Uttarardha: 61.220)
*Vamana is listed in the Dashavatara, the ten principle incarnations of [[Vishnu]] (Part 15: Reva Khanda: 151.1-7)
*Bali is to take the position of [[Indra]] during the reign of the eighth [[Manu (Hinduism)|Manu]] (Part 18: Nagara Khanda: 273.4-6)

=== Vamana Purana ===
{| class="wikitable"
! rowspan="2" |[[Vamana Purana|Vamana]]
!References
!Notes
|-
|Saromabatmya - 2-10; 48-52 and 62-66<ref>{{Cite book|url=http://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.313087|title=The Vamana Purana With English Translation|last=Gupta|first=anand Swarup|date=1968}}</ref>
|
|}

{{blockquote|'O King, give me three strides for a fire sanctuary. Let gold, villages, jewels and such other things be given to those who desire them'. [[Mahabali|Bali]] said 'O Most exalted one, what shall you do with three steps? Please ask for a hundred or a thousand steps'. Sri Vamana said 'O Chief of [[Asura|demons]], as far as soliciting is concerned, I shall be satisfied with this much. To other seekers you give valuable things according to their choice'.|source=The Vamana Purana, (translated by A.S. Gupta, 1968), Saromabatmya, Chapter 10, Verses 44-45|author=|title=}}

There are two main accounts of the legend of Vamana in the [[Vamana Purana]]. At least 18 chapters relate directly to Vamana and events or characters relating to the legend. [[H.H. Wilson]] summarises the legend of Vamana in this [[Purana]] as 'the birth of [[Krishna]] as a dwarf, for the purpose of humiliating Bali by fraud, as he was invincible by force. The story is told as usual; but the scene is laid at [[Kurukshetra]]'.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Wilson|first=H. H. (Horace Hayman)|url=http://archive.org/details/worksbylatehorace06wils|title=Works by the late Horace Hayman Wilson (Vol 6)|date=1862|publisher=London : Trübner|others=Princeton Theological Seminary Library|pages=LXXVI (preface)}}</ref> This somewhat curt summation is fundamentally inaccurate and misleading since Bali is neither humiliated nor defrauded. As a general rule, Bali is a noble-souled and religious character fully aware of exactly who Vamana is and who knowingly grants three footsteps of land in spite of being warned of the consequences. This is the case in both accounts contained in the Vamana Purana, where far from being 'humiliated', Bali is installed as ruler of the netherworlds and is promised the post of [[Indra]] (i.e. King of the devas).

==== First account ====
[[File:Hiranyakasipu About to Decapitate Prahlada, Folio from a Bhagavata Purana (Ancient Stories of the Lord) LACMA M.88.227.jpg|thumb|[[Prahlada]] and his father, [[Hiranyakasipu]].]]
The first account is remarkably similar to that of the [[Matsya Purana]] (see above), and consists of 9 chapters (Saromabatmya: 2-10). It begins with the coronation of [[Mahabali|Bali]] as the King after defeating [[Indra]]. Noble and religious, Bali is congratulated for his victory and blessed by [[Lakshmi|Sri]] (2). Meanwhile, Indra returns to his mother, [[Aditi]], who states Bali can only be defeated by [[Vishnu]]. Aditi and the devas go to [[Kashyapa]], 'the creator of beings, the Supreme Master of the entire progeny' who then takes them to [[Brahmaloka]], the celestial abode of [[Brahma]] (3).

Brahma informs the devas that the three worlds will be delivered by 'Him who is the Lord of all the worlds, the eternal master of the universe, and the First born they call the Primordial First Deity. Even the devas do not know who the Great One is'. From there the devas travel to 'the northern bank of the [[Kshir Sagar|Ksiroda]] Ocean, in the northern direction, where the Creator of the universe is present... the region known as [[Amrta]]'. There, knowing 'Lord [[Narayana]], the thousand-eyed god' could only be realised through spiritual union, practiced holy vows and recited the [[Vedas]] for 1,000 years (4). Kashyapa also eulogises Vishnu by reciting many of His names, including 'Devadeva' ('God of devas') and 'Prasitara' ('the Eater of the oblation at the sacrifice') and states the importance of [[Yajna|sacrifice]] (5).

Narayana agrees to the request of Kashyapa to 'be born as the younger brother of Indra, the promoter of the happiness of the relatives, and the dear son of Aditi'. Returning to the Hermitage of Kashyapa, Aditi then performs penances for 10,000 years (6). Pleased with her penance Vishnu appears, agrees to Aditi's wish to restore her son Indra to power, and becomes conceived in the womb (7). After the demons lose their lustre, Bali enquiries from his grandfather and [[Vaishnavism|Devotee of Vishnu]], [[Prahlada]], what the reason is. Meditating on [[Hari]], Prahlada has a vision of Vamana and informs Bali, who scoffs and is consequently cursed as for his disrespect towards 'the all-pervasive, supreme spirit' (8). Bali apologises, is forgiven by Prahlada, and accepts he will lose his kingdom as a result of the curse. Meanwhile, Vamana is born to Aditi after 10 months of pregnancy. Brahma performs the [[Jatakarma|Jatakarma ceremony]] and other rites before gifting a black deer skin, [[Brhaspati]] the sacred thread, [[Marichi|Marici]] the Asadha staff, [[Vasistha]] a Kamandalu, [[Angiras]] a silken cloth, and so on. The dwarf then proceeds slowly to the sacrifice of Bali, His footsteps leaving hollows in the earth (9).

Bali is warned by [[Shukra|Sukra]] about the arrival of Vamana, and advised to refuse any request made. Bali responds that he could not refuse the Lord of Sacrifices even if he wanted to, and considers himself very fortunate the Lord is arriving to his [[Yajna]] personally. Bali offers Vamana 'a gift of anything that belongs to me' and Vishnu requests 'three strides for a [[Vedi (altar)|Fire Sanctuary]] [Altar]'. Bali agrees and as 'soon as water fell in his palm the Dwarf assumed non-dwarfish dimensions and showed instantly his form, comprehending all devas'. In three steps Vamana regains the three worlds which are returned to Indra, while Bali is promised to become Indra on 'the expiry of the [[Vaivasvata]] period' (i.e. end of the rule of the seventh Manu); until then, he is to rule in [[Sutala]], 'crowded with hundreds of palaces and provided with comforts necessary for devas'. The remainder of the chapter concerns the importance of sacrifices, and the merits achieved by Bali though improper practices of others, such as 'sacrifices performed without faith' (10).

==== Second account ====
[[File:Vamana Avatar - Calcutta Art Studio, calcutta (Kolkata) c1880's.jpg|left|thumb|Vamana with [[Mahabali|Bali]].]]

The second account - excluding chapters not directly related to the legend, such as Bali conquering the devas beforehand and the pilgrimage of Prahlada after cursing Bali - consists of at least 5 chapters (Saromabatmya: 50–51, 62, and 64–65). In this, [[Indra]] travels to [[Brahmaloka]] to confer with [[Brahma]] and [[Kashyapa]], where he is told that he lost his Kingdom due to his sin of attempting to destroy the fetus of [[Diti]] (saved by [[Vishnu]]), another wife of [[Kashyapa]] and mother of the [[Daitya]]s. Indra performs penances, of which he tells his mother, [[Aditi]]. Aditi in turn performs penances, and pleased, Vishnu agrees to be born as her son (i.e. Vamana) to restore [[Indra]] to power (50). Similar the first account, Bali is warned about the birth of Vamana and cursed after failing to take the threat seriously, albeit this time by his grandfather Prahlada (not [[Shukra|Sukra]]), who then goes on a pilgrimage (51).

Vamana is born, and eulogised by Brahma who performs the [[Upanayana]] and [[Jatakarma|Jatakarma ceremonies]] and others. [[Pulaha]] gives the sacred thread to Vamana, [[Pulastya]] two white garments, [[Agastya]] a deer skin, [[Bharadvaja]] a girdle, [[Marichi|Marici]] a staff, [[Vasistha]] (son of [[Varuna]]) rosary beads, [[Angiras]] a broom of [[Kusa grass]], King [[Raghu]] an umbrella, Nrga a pair of shoes, [[Brhaspati]] a water-jar, and so on. Vamana states 'I will go to Kuruksetra which confers great prosperity. There the sacred [[Ashvamedha|Asvamedha Sacrifice]] of the king of demons [Bali] is going on' (62).

[[Shukra|Sukra]] advises Bali not to give anything to Vamana. This advice is rejected by Bali, who relates the story of Nisakara 'the son of Kosakara, which took place on the [[Malaya Mountains|Malaya Mountain]] in olden days'. It is similar to the legend of [[Bharata (Mahabharata)|Bharat]], insofar as it concerns a person that having remembered their previous births, pretended to be mentally-handicapped, and suffered mistreatment by others as a result, in order to 'no longer commit terrible sins with my mind, actions and speech' (64). Vamana arrives at the sacrifice of Bali and requests three steps of land. Bali offers much more but Vamana again repeats 'Give me three steps; I do ask for this much only'. Bali agrees, and just 'as the water (of the pitcher) fell on the hand (of [[Vishnu]]) he assumed a divine, multifarious, world-embracing form for the purpose of pervading the three worlds'. In two steps, Vamana covers all existence and creates the [[Ganges]]. Vamana then tells Bali he must 'supply my (remaining) step or accept captivity'. Bali's son, [[Banasura|Bana]], sees through the ruse and points out Vishnu could traverse all of existence in a single step despite being in the small form of a dwarf.

[[Vishnu]] responds that His three steps were also for the benefit of Bali, and to the King directly, says, 'O King, till my honorarium is paid, you go and live free from diseases in the subterranean region called [[Sutala]] (good-surfaced) which is highly beneficial'. As in the first account, Vishnu also states that improper sacrifices will also benefit Bali while resident in the netherworld, in addition to other sacred rituals such as Dvara-[[pratipada]]. Then, 'having restored heaven to Indra, and enabling the devas to enjoy their shares in sacrifices, the omnipotent Lord of the universe disappeared' (65).

=== Varaha Purana ===
{| class="wikitable"
! rowspan="2" |[[Varaha Purana|Varaha]]
!References
!Notes
|-
|'''Part 1:''' 1.11,&nbsp; 4.2-3, 7.32, 8.43, 15.14, 43.2-7, 48.18-22, 55.37, 113.25, 113.42;<ref>{{Cite book|url=http://archive.org/details/dli.bengal.10689.12962|title=THE VARAHA PURANA PART. 1|last=N.A|date=1960|publisher=MOTILAL BANARSIDASS, DELHI}}</ref> '''Part 2:''' 160.40, 166.25, 174.53-54, 174.63, 174.76-83, 210.64, 211.69<ref>{{Cite book|url=http://archive.org/details/dli.bengal.10689.12972|title=THE VARAHA PURANA PART. 2|last=N.A|date=1960|publisher=MOTILAL BANARSIDASS, DELHI}}</ref>
|}

{{blockquote|May the short [[Brahmacarin]] with staff and deer-skin who changed into a measureless huge body with yogic power, transcended the earth and made the sacrifice of [[Mahabali|Bali]] ineffective, purify us.|source=Varaha Purana (Unknown translator, 1960), Part 1, Chapter 15, Verse 14}}

In the [[Varaha Purana]], it seems that the legend of Vamana is only briefly mentioned, as quoted above. Other details include:

* Vamana is one of the 10 primary [[Dashavatara|incarnations]] ([[Dashavatar]]) of [[Vishnu]] (Part 1: 4.2-3, 113.42 and  Part 2: 211.69)
* In 'the month of Caitra (Mesa), Visnu should be worshipped on [[Dvadasi]] day after due fasting. The feet should be worshipped as Vamana' (Part 1: 43.1-2)
* Worship of Vamana removes 'all stupefaction' (Part 1: 48.18)
*It is said that the 'only means for redemption for those who are ignorant and indifferent to [[dharma]] and do not have compassion or give gifts, is to perform worship and [[Yajna|sacrifice]] to Lord Vamana at the confluence at [[Mathura]] when the star [[Shravana|Sravana]] is in combination with [[Dvadasi]] in the month of [[Bhadrapada]]' (Part 2: 174.53-54)

=== Vayu Purana ===
{| class="wikitable"
! rowspan="2" |[[Vayu Purana|Vayu]]
!References
!Notes
|-
|'''Part 1:''' 50.41 (city of Bali), 55.3, 55.7;<ref>{{Cite book|url=http://archive.org/details/dli.bengal.10689.12977|title=THE VAYU PURANA PART. 1|last=N.A|date=1960|publisher=MOTILAL BANARSIDASS PUBLISHERS PVT. LTD, DELHI|pages=377–382}}</ref> '''Part 2:'''  5.133, 35.73, 35.77, 36.74-85, 37.26-32, 38.21-22, 46.29 (Bali as oblation);<ref>{{Cite book|url=http://archive.org/details/dli.bengal.10689.20638|title=THE VAYU PURANA PART. 2|last=N.A.|date=1960|publisher=MOTILAL BANARSIDASS, DELHI}}</ref>
|
|}

{{blockquote|<poem>The third incarnation, that of Vamana, took place in the seventh [[Treta Yuga]] when all the three worlds had been overrun by [[Daityas]] and were ruled over by [[mahabali|Bali]]... Assuming the form of a [[Brahmin|Brahmana]] on an auspicious occasion, he requested Bali: "O King, you are the lord of the three worlds. Everything is in you. It behoves you to grant me (the space covered by) three paces".

"I will give", promised the king Bali, the son of [[Virocana]]. On knowing that he was a Vamana (Dwarf), he was delighted mich. But, O excellent Brahmanas, that lord Vamana measured the entire universe, the Earth, the Heaven, and the Sky by means of three paces.</poem>|source=Vayu Purana (Unknown translator, 1960), Part 2, Chapter 36, Verses 74-76|author=|title=}}

In the [[Vayu Purana]], the legend of Vamana is briefly recounted in the second part (36.74-85), an excerpt of which is quoted above. A simplified version of the legend (in comparison to many others), after Vamana takes back the three worlds from the [[Asura]]s, 'he forced them to retreat to the bottom of the nether-world along with their sons and grandsons. Namuci, [[Sambara]] and [[Prahlada]] (were among them). The cruel [[Danavas]] were killed'. Bali is also stated to have been 'bound with great nooses along with his kinsmen, friends, and followers'.

The previous two incarnations of [[Vishnu]] prior to Vamana are stated to be [[Varaha]] and [[Narasimha]]. Notably, deviating from [[Dashavatara|incarnations]] typically listed, the fourth listed (occurring in the tenth [[Treta Yuga]]) is [[Dattatreya]], the fifth (fifteenth Treta Yuga) is [[Mandhatri|Mandhatr]], the sixth (nineteenth Treta Yuga) is [[Parashurama]], and the seventh (twenty-fourth Treta Yuga) is [[Rama|Ram]]. Other incarnations following Rama have not been listed here. Other details include:

* The sons of Bali 'established the disciplines of four castes on this earth' (Part 2: 37.26-32) 
* There are two different Balis. The first is [[Mahabali]], the rival of [[Indra]] conquered by Vishnu/Vamana in three steps. The second is 'another East Indian King who being childless requested [progeny] thus to [[Dirghatamas]]' (Part 2: 37, footnote 1, page 796). The anonymous translator notes that the [[Vayu Purana|Vayu Puran]] seems to mix-up or confuse these two Balis in chapter 37 (i.e. Mahabali was not childless)
* It is stated that 'He who was formerly [[Mahabali|Bali]], the son of [[Virocana]], will become their [the [[Deva (Hinduism)|devas]]] [[Indra]]' (Part 2: 38.21-22)
* It is stated that a son of Bali, Cakravarma, will be incarnated as [[Karna|Karn]], one of the main villains of the [[Mahabharata]] (Part 2: 7.32)

=== Vishnu Purana ===
{| class="wikitable"
! rowspan="2" |[[Vishnu Purana|Vishnu]]
!References
!Notes
|-
|'''Book 1:''' 9;<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.sacred-texts.com/hin/vp/vp044.htm|title=The Vishnu Purana: Book I: Chapter IX|website=www.sacred-texts.com|access-date=2020-03-12}}</ref> '''Book 2:''' --; '''Book 3:''' 1;<ref name=":13">{{Cite web|url=https://www.sacred-texts.com/hin/vp/vp075.htm|title=The Vishnu Purana: Book III: Chapter I|website=www.sacred-texts.com|access-date=2020-03-12}}</ref> '''Book 4:''' --; '''Book 5:''' 5;<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.sacred-texts.com/hin/vp/vp122.htm|title=The Vishnu Purana: Book V: Chapter V|website=www.sacred-texts.com|access-date=2020-03-12}}</ref> '''Book 6:''' --;
|
|}

{{blockquote|For in like manner as the lord of the world, the god of gods, [[Janardana]], descends amongst mankind (in various shapes), so does his coadjutrix [[Lakshmi|Shri]]. Thus when [[Hari]] was born as a dwarf, the son of [[Aditi]], Lakshmi appeared from a lotus (as Padma, or Kamala); when he was born as Ram, of the race of [[Bhrigu]] (or [[Parashuram]]), she was Dharani; when he was Raghava ([[Rama]]chandra), she was [[Sita]]; and when he was [[Krishna]], she became [[Rukmini]]. In the other descents of [[Vishnu]], she is his associate. If he takes a celestial form, she appears as divine; if a mortal, she becomes a mortal too, transforming her own person agreeably to whatever character it pleases Vishnu to put on.|source=Vishnu Purana, (translated by [[H.H. Wilson]], 1840), Book 3, Chapter 1}}

It seems that the legend of Vamana is only briefly mentioned in the [[Vishnu Purana]]. According to the notes of the translator, [[H.H. Wilson]], 'Fuller details occur in the [[Bhagavata Purana]], [[Kurma Purana|Kurma]], [[Matsya Purana|Matsya]], and [[Vamana Purana]]'.<ref name=":13" /><ref>{{Cite book|last=Wilson|first=H. H. (Horace Hayman)|url=http://archive.org/details/worksbylatehorac08wils|title=Works by the late Horace Hayman Wilson (Vol. 8)|date=1862|publisher=London : Trübner|others=Princeton Theological Seminary Library|pages=18–19 (footnote 1)}}</ref> However, it is stated in the above quotation that Vamana had a wife called Padma or Kamala, an incarnation of His eternal consort [[Lakshmi]]. The only other mention of a wife is made in the Bhagavata Purana, whose name was Kirti (meaning 'Fame', see above).

==Sangam Literature==

Several texts of the Tamil [[Sangam literature]] such as ''[[Mullaippāṭṭu]]'' and ''[[Perumpāṇāṟṟuppaṭai]]'' mention Vishnu's incarnation of Vamana, addressed as Trivikrama, referring to his act of spanning the Earth.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://archive.org/details/pattupattutentamilidyllschelliahj.v._108_Q/page/135/mode/2up | title=Pattupattu Ten Tamil Idylls Chelliah J. V. }}</ref><ref>{{cite web | url=https://archive.org/details/pattupattutentamilidyllschelliahj.v._108_Q/page/n123/mode/2up | title=Pattupattu Ten Tamil Idylls Chelliah J. V. }}</ref>

== Festivals ==
===BaliPāḍyami===
Balipaadyami or [[Balipratipada]] is an ancient festival observed during the five days of [[Diwali]] that amongst other things commemorates the Bali-Vamana legend.<ref name=kanev5>{{cite book|author=PV Kane|title=History of Dharmasastra, Volume 5 Part 1| url=https://archive.org/details/KhistoryOfDharmasastraancientAndMediaevalReligiousAndCivilLaw | publisher= Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute| year= 1958 |pages= [https://archive.org/details/KhistoryOfDharmasastraancientAndMediaevalReligiousAndCivilLaw/page/n214 201]–207}}</ref> The legend signifies devotion, goodwill and generosity.<ref name =Narayan>{{Cite book|last=Narayan|first=R.K|title= The Ramayana: a shortened modern prose version of the Indian epic |work= Mahabali story|pages= 14–16|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Jv-BdsLrX0wC |publisher= Penguin Classics|year=1977|isbn=978-0-14-018700-7}}</ref>

===Onam===
[[File:Onam 2013 (9770107356).jpg|thumb|Thrikkakara Appan Onathappan idol (anicon of Vamana incarnation) inside Pookalam during Onam]]
{{Main|Onam}}
In one version of the Vamana legend, when Mahabali offered himself for Vishnu's third step, it was an act of Mahabali's devotion.<ref name="Melton2011p659"/> Vishnu granted him a boon. Mahabali chose to revisit earth, once every year, the lands and people he previously ruled. This revisit marks the festival of [[Onam]], as reminder of the virtuous rule and his humility in keeping his promise before Vishnu.<ref name="Melton2011p659">{{cite book|author=J. Gordon Melton|title=Religious Celebrations: An Encyclopedia of Holidays, Festivals, Solemn Observances, and Spiritual Commemorations|url= https://books.google.com/books?id=lD_2J7W_2hQC&pg=PA659 |year= 2011|publisher =ABC-CLIO|isbn=978-1-59884-206-7|page=659}}</ref>

A simpler form of this legend, one without Mahabali, is found in the ''[[Rigveda]]'' and the Vedic text ''Shatapatha Brahmana'' where a solar deity is described with powers of Vishnu. This story likely grew over time, and is in part allegorical, where ''Bali'' is a metaphor for thanksgiving offering after a bounty of rice harvest during monsoon, and ''Vishnu'' is the metaphor of the Kerala Sun and summer that precedes the Onam.<ref name=Krishna58>{{cite book|author=Nanditha Krishna|title=Book of Vishnu|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=pIFFEJXx7L8C |year=2009|publisher= Penguin Books|isbn=978-81-8475-865-8|pages=58–61}}</ref> The story of Mahabali is important to Onam in Kerala, but similar Mahabali legends are significant in the region of Balia in Uttar Pradesh, Bawan also in the same state, Bharuch in Gujarat, and Mahabaleshwar in Maharashtra. The story is significant not because Mahabali's rule ended, but it emphasizes the Hindu belief in cyclical nature of events, that no individual, no ruler and nothing lasts forever, except the virtues and self understanding that overcomes all sorrow.<ref name="Dalal2010p229">{{cite book|author=Roshen Dalal|title=Hinduism: An Alphabetical Guide|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=DH0vmD8ghdMC|year=2010|publisher=Penguin Books |isbn=978-0-14-341421-6|pages=229–230}}</ref><ref name=Krishna58/>

== Iconography ==
Vamana iconography varies by region.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Rajarajan|first=R. K. K.|title=Water, Source of 'Genesis' and the End Macro and Micro Viṣṇu in the Hymns of the Āḻvārs|url=https://www.academia.edu/44602573|journal=The Medieval History Journal|date=January 2020|volume=23|issue=2|pages=296–331|doi=10.1177/0971945820956583|s2cid=227240912|issn=0971-9458}}</ref> Three icons are common, one shows his left foot raised above his knee, the second shows his foot above his navel, and the third shows it raised above the forehead. These icons respectively symbolize the three worlds – netherworld, earth and heaven – Vamana covered as Trivikrama.<ref>{{cite book|author=T. A. Gopinatha Rao|title=Elements of Hindu iconography|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=MJD-KresBwIC|year =1993|publisher= Motilal Banarsidass |isbn= 978-81-208-0878-2|pages= 163–167}}</ref>

== Temples ==
[[File:Thrikkakara Temple DSC09337.JPG|thumb|[[Thrikkakara Temple]] in [[Kerala]]]]
The Vamana iconography and images are found in many [[Vaishnava]] temples. Some Vamana temples include:
* Vamana temple at Marhia, Jabalpur (dated to 5th-century, [[Gupta Empire]] era)<ref>{{cite journal | last=Chandra | first=Pramod | title=A Vamana Temple at Marhia and Some Reflections on Gupta Architecture | journal=Artibus Asiae | volume=32 | issue=2/3 | year=1970 | doi=10.2307/3249549 | pages=125–145| jstor=3249549 }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal | last=Meister | first=Michael W. | title=Man and Man-Lion: The Philadelphia Narasimha | journal=Artibus Asiae | volume=56 | issue=3/4 | year=1996 | doi=10.2307/3250120 | pages=291–301| jstor=3250120 }}</ref>
* Vamana temple in [[Nagpur]] complex of [[Ramtek Kevala Narasimha temple inscription|Ramagiri Temples]], [[Maharashtra]] (5th-century CE)<ref>{{cite journal | last=Bakker | first=Hans | title=The Trivikrama Temple: A New Interpretation of Rāmagiri Evidence (3) | journal=South Asian Studies | publisher=Taylor & Francis | volume=29 | issue=2 | year=2013 | doi=10.1080/02666030.2013.833757 | pages=169–176| s2cid=191357609 }}</ref>
* Vamana along with other avatars of Vishnu, at the [[Dashavatara Temple, Deogarh]], Jhansi ([[Uttar Pradesh]], dated 500-500 CE)<ref>Alexander Lubotsky (1996), ''[https://www.jstor.org/stable/4629500 The Iconography of the Viṣṇu Temple at Deogarh and the Viṣṇudharmottarapurāṇa]'', Ars Orientalis, Vol. 26, The Smithsonian Institution and Department of the History of Art, pp. 65-80</ref>
* [[Thrikkakara Temple]], [[Thrikkakkara]], [[Cochin]], [[Kerala]]
* [[Velloor]] Sree Vamana Swamy Temple, [[Kottayam district|Kottayam]], Kerala
* [[Mithranandapuram Vamanamoorthy Temple]], [[Thrissur district|Thrissur]], Kerala
* Mathampilly Vamana Murthy Temple, [[Chelamattom]], [[Ernakulam district|Ernakulam]], Kerala
* Thrivikramamangalam Mahavishnu (Vamana) Temple, [[Thirumala, Thiruvananthapuram|Thirumala]], [[Thiruvananthapuram district|Thiruvananthapuram]] (Protected monument)
* [[Ulagalantha Perumal Temple, Kanchipuram]] in [[Kanchipuram]]
* [[Vamana Temple, Khajuraho India|Vamana Temple]], Eastern Group of Temples, [[Khajuraho]], [[Madhya Pradesh]]
* [[Ulagalantha Perumal Temple, Tirukoyilur]] in [[Tirukoilur]], [[Viluppuram District]], [[Tamil Nadu]]
* [[Kazheesirama Vinnagaram]] in [[Sirkazhi]], [[Tamil Nadu]]
* In [[Jagannath Temple, Puri|Jagannath Puri Temple]] the tower of the main sanctuary has three subsidiary shrines, Varaha on south, Narasigha on west and Vamana on north. The high relief Vamana Dev intricately describes the incident of Bali.

<gallery>
File:Shivas Kinder - 0192.jpg|Vamana taking a giant step, Nepal
File:Badami Cave Temples 22.jpg|Vamana at the [[Badami cave temples]], [[Karnataka]]
File:Pattadakal Virupaksa. Mandapa east wall, north side. Trivikrama.JPG|Vamana striding the heavens, [[Karnataka]]
File:Vamana Avatar.jpg|Dwarf Vamana avatar at [[Rani ki vav]], [[Patan, Gujarat|Patan]], [[Gujarat]]
File:AthenaIndia 0306 036.jpg|Vishnu as Trivikrama, [[Mamallapuram]], [[Tamil Nadu]]
File:Vamanavataram at Srikurmam Temple.jpg|Dwarf Vamana at [[Srikurmam]], [[Andhra Pradesh]]
File:Ellora, maharashtra 1997004.jpg|Vamana at [[Ellora Caves]], [[Maharashtra]]  
</gallery>

== See also ==
<!---♦♦♦ Please keep the list in alphabetical order ♦♦♦--->
*[[Buddha]]
*[[Kalki]]
*[[Rama]]
*[[Vamadeva]]
*[[Varaha]]
*[[Vishnu]]
*[[Vishnu Purana]]

== References ==
{{Reflist|colwidth=30em}}

== External links ==
{{commons category-inline}}
* {{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20110114010337/http://www.vaikhari.org/vamana.html Vamana Temples in Kerala]}}
* [http://www.harekrsna.com/philosophy/incarnations/lila5.htm Vamana Avatar]
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