🪷 वामन · Vāmana (Vāmana)

Daśāvatāra #5 of 10 · Tretā Yuga · Tretā-Yuga · Bali-rāja's ascendancy

Krishna-aspect (the non-dual anchor)

Krishna IS the One whose three strides span all worlds (BG 11 viśvarūpa-darśana). Vāmana is the trivikrama-form — Krishna covering past-present-future, jāgrat-svapna-suṣupti, sattva-rajas-tamas with three measures. The "smallness" that contains the cosmos is the deepest non-dual teaching.

Lila-essence — the dharma-restoration arc

Bali-rāja (Prahlāda's grandson, a noble asura) had conquered all three lokas including Indra's svarga. Devas were dispossessed. Vāmana descended as a small brahmacārī boy and approached Bali at his Aśvamedha-yajña, requesting only "three steps of land". Bali, the great dāna-vrata holder, granted it despite Śukrācārya's warning. Vāmana then expanded — His first step covered the entire earth, His second step covered all svarga. Asking where to place His third step, Bali humbly offered his own head. Vāmana placed His foot there — sending Bali to Sutala-loka (a higher realm than svarga), making him eternal and granting him the boon that Vāmana would forever guard his palace door. Adharma corrected through dharma-preservation, not destruction.

Iconography + attributes

Bhāgavata Purāṇa anchor

Bhāgavata Purāṇa 8.15-8.23 (Bali-Vāmana · three strides · Sutala blessing)

Modern relevance · Kali-Yuga dharma-message

Vāmana-tattva is the patron of dāna (true generosity), of dharma-via-humility, and of Onam (Kerala's harvest festival celebrating Bali's annual return-visit). Three-step contemplation — physical, mental, spiritual — is a daily Vāmana-sādhana.

Mantra

oṁ vāmanāya namaḥ · oṁ namo bhagavate trivikramāya

Cross-references

• /nakshatra/shravana
• /rashi/capricorn
• Krishna-as-Paramaatma · BG 7 manifest
• Cosmic-Time · BG 8