© Richard Randall

Caribbean

Sundries

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 2.5 License.

Vamana

Vamana is the Fifth Avatara of Vishnu, a dwarf brahmin. He is also known as Upendra.

He defeats the Devas' (Gods') enemy Bali Chakravarthi (of the demon race) into giving up all of the heavens and earth. King Bali, in an attempt to cement his place as the ruler of all Three Worlds (i.e. the Universe), performed a series of grand yajnas (prayers/sacrifice). The Gods feared that this would cause evil to stalk the Universe, so they prayed to Mahavishnu to assist them. On King Bali's last yajna, Vamana a small brahmana boy appeared. The King was delighted to be graced by the presence of such a holy being, and offered Vamana anything that he wished for. Vamana asked for a piece of land only three paces wide and Bali laughs at the proposal, highlighting the great wealth and land that he owns. However he nonetheless agrees to this wish, against Asuraguru Sukracharya's warning that Vamana is in fact the avatar of Mahavishnu who has come once again to defeat the demon race. King Bali agrees, but this invokes the anger of his spiritual master, Sukracharya, who curses him. King Bali presents Vamana his gift, whereupon Vamana grows in size and steps across the earth in one step, the heavens in the second step. Having now conquered all of Bali's wealth, Vamana asks him where he should place his third step. King Bali, in trying to fulfill his promise, offered his head as the third place. Thus Vamana places his third step on King Bali's head, defeating him completely.

Vamana taught King Bali that arrogance and pride should be abandoned if any advancement in life is to be made, and that wealth should never be taken for granted since it can so easily be taken away. Vamana then took on the form of Mahavishnu. He was pleased by King Bali's determination and ability to keep his promise in the face of his spiritual master's curse and the prospect of losing all his wealth. Vishnu named the King Mahabali since he was a Mahatma (great soul). He allowed Mahabali to return to the spiritual sky to associate with Prahalada (the demoniac Hiranyashipu's pious son, also a descendant of the demon race) and other divine beings. Mahavishnu also declared that Mahabali would be able to rule the universe in the following yuga (age).

Bali is supposed to return every year to the land of his people, to ensure that they are prosperous. This is celebrated as the Onam festival in Kerala, where he is also called Maveli.

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Oceania