'Vāmana' (Sanskrit वामन) means 'Dwarf', 'small' or 'small or short in stature'. It also means 'dwarfish bull', 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 Kasyapa and his wife Aditi, other names or epithets referring to Vāmana include: