Editing Vamana (section)

=== Kurma Purana ===
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|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>
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{{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]]''.