VISHNU SAHASRA NAMAM 152 - Courtesy ARUN

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(152) Vaamanah -Of the ten great incarnations, the fifth one is

Vaamana; and the very name indicates `One who has a small body'. It

was in the form of a child (vatuh =A child student in a gurukula) that

Vaamana approached the divinely righteous Emperor Mahaabali to beg of

him a little land, of the length of his tiny three steps-and the Lord

measured in His three steps all the three worlds and thus conquered

Mahaabali. He checked (Vamayati) the rising pride of possession in

Bali, hence He, in that incarnation as a Vatu, is called Vaamana.

 

The term Vaamana also means `worshipful': " Him, the Dwarf, sitting in

the middle of the heart, all gods adore " , so we read in the

Kathopanishad (5-3). However, here the emphasis should be upon the

meaning " short statured " because of the contrast it makes with the

following name.