Narratives from the Vāmana Purāṇa

The war between Andhaka and Bhagavān Śiva in the Vāmana Purāṇa, with the births of Carcikā, Kuja, Bhṛṅgī and Mātali and the rebirth of Śukrācārya.

Bali takes Indra's place, Kālanemi is slain, Prahlāda teaches him rājadharma, and Lakshmī comes to live with him, before the Vāmana avatāra.

Bali lives in Sutala, honours the Sudarśana cakra, hears Prahlāda's teaching on Vishṇu-bhakti and builds a temple where Bhagavān Vishṇu stands guard.

Brahmā loses his fifth head, goes to Sannihita Sarovara, worships Śiva, and installs four liṅgas there, one for each yuga.

Śiva cuts off Brahmā's fifth head and wanders as Kapālī. Satī gives up her body at Daksha's yajña, and Vīrabhadra destroys it.

King Daṇḍa wrongs Araja, daughter of Śukrācārya, and Śukrācārya's śāpa destroys his kingdom, which becomes Daṇḍakāraṇya.

Śiva visits Devadāruvana as a naked ascetic, the ṛshis cut off his liṅga, and he carries it to Sannihita, where it becomes the Sthāṇu liṅga.

Before Bali, Bhagavān Vishṇu asked the daitya Dhundhu for three paces of land, took the Trivikrama form, and sent him underground.

At the tīrtha of Hāṭakeśvara, kings, ṛshis, yakshas and celestial beings gathered for the weddings of divine women, including Citrāṅgadā and Nandayantī.

Bhagavān Vishṇu and Bhagavān Śiva together destroy the daitya Jalodbhava in the Kashmir valley, and the river Vitastā begins to flow.

Agni carries Bhagavān Śiva's seed, the river Kuṭilā bears it, and Kārttikeya is born in the Śaravaṇa and consecrated as commander at Pṛthūdaka.

Kārttikeya slays the asura Tāraka with his śakti, then pierces the Krauñca mountain, which kills Mahishāsura hiding inside it.

The devas give their tejas to form Devī Kātyāyanī, who settles on the Vindhya and slays the asura Mahishāsura and his generals.

Maṅkaṇaka, son of Kaśyapa, dances for joy, is humbled by Bhagavān Śiva, and draws the seven forms of Sarasvatī to the Saptasārasvata tīrtha.

Himavān and Menā have three daughters, Kālī is named Umā, and her tapas wins Bhagavān Śiva, after which the saptarshis go to Himavān to ask for her hand.

The dānava Murāsura, whose touch kills, conquers the three worlds until Bhagavān Vishṇu slays him with the cakra and is named Murāri.

Nara and Nārāyaṇa, sons of Dharma, do tapas at Badarī. Manmatha fails to disturb them, and Urvaśī is born from Nārāyaṇa's thigh.

Bali tells Śukrācārya of Niśākara, a boy born remembering his past lives as a tiger, donkey, parrot and bull, all from unchecked lust.

Pārvatī takes a golden form as Gaurī, the devī Kauśikī is born from her dark kośa, and Gaṇeśa is made from her bath-paste.

The daitya king Prahlāda fights the ṛshi Nara, bows to Nārāyaṇa, receives the blessing of Bhagavān Vishṇu, and gives the kingdom to Andhaka.

After leaving the asura court, Prahlāda travels to the sacred rivers and forests of Bhārata, bathing and offering tarpaṇa at each tīrtha.

King Saṃvaraṇa marries Tapatī, daughter of Sūrya, and their son Kuru ploughs Samantapañcaka and makes it Kurukshetra.

Viśvāmitra orders the river Sarasvatī to bring Vasishṭha to him, and curses her to flow with blood when she saves him.

Kauśikī-Caṇḍikā kills the dānava brothers Śuṃbha and Niśuṃbha and their generals, as the Vāmana Purāṇa tells it.

Bhagavān Śiva carries Brahmā's skull and the *pāpa* of brahmahatyā until he reaches Vārāṇasī, where the skull falls from his hand.

The wedding of Bhagavān Śiva and Devī Pārvatī as told in Chapter 27 of the Vāmana Purāṇa, with Mālinī's vara and the birth of the Vālakhilyas.

The brāhmaṇa Somaśarman, freed from his preta state by the merchant Sudharmā, and the Nakshatra Purusha Vrata that restored King Purūravas's beauty.

The daitya Śrīdāma steals Lakshmī. Bhagavān Vishṇu performs tapas, receives the Sudarśana Cakra from Bhagavān Śiva, and slays him.

Assembled ṛshis teach the rākshasa king Sukeśī dharma, the seven dvīpas, the narakas and the nine varshas of Jambūdvīpa.

The Vāmana Mahā Purāṇa tells how Bhagavān Vishṇu was born as Vāmana, asked Bali for three paces of land, and sent him to Sutala.

Vedavatī, a woman of tapas at Kurukshetra, gives up her body after Rāvaṇa seizes her hair, and is born again as Sītā.

King Vena dies, is reborn as a leprous mleccha at Sannihita Sarovara, is purified by a dog's bath, sings the Vena Stava to Bhagavān Śiva and is freed.

Aditi keeps the Māgha-saptamī vrata so that Bhagavān Vishṇu will be born as her son and win back the worlds for the devas, and Vāmana is born.

The daitya king Andhaka meets Gaurī on Mount Mandara, ignores Prahlāda's warning, and is struck down by a hundred forms of her.