Chapter 22 - A Dialogue between Bali and Vāmana

[Sanskrit text for this chapter is available]

Śrī Śuka said:

1. Oh King! Even though Bali was thus (humiliatingly) insulted by the glorious Lord and though he was made to swerve from the truth, Bali remained firm in mind, ar d gave this dignified reply.

Bali submitted:

2. Oh god of excellent renown! Your worship regards the promise given by me as false. (It is you who fraudulently disguised yourself as a dwarf at the time of begging, and deceitfully manifested a different form at the time of the implementation of promise). In spite of this, I shall be true to my word so that I should not be regarded as a cheat. Be pleased to place your third step on my head (as the possessor of wealth is more valuable than the wealth possessed) Oh Prominent one among gods!

3. Displaced as I am from my (sovereign) position, I am not so much afraid of hell or of being bound down with (Varuṇa’s) noose, or of insuperable calamities or of financial difficulties or of any punishment from you as from ignoble reputation (viz. Bali was a deceitful person).

4. Methinks punishment meted out by the worthiest person is the most praiseworthy reward to men, as neither mother nor father nor brother or friends can deal such punishment.

5. In the guise of an enemy, you are certainly the highest preceptor (and hence benefactor) of us, the Asuras, inasmuch as you gave an insight in this fall to us, who were blinded by pride and arrogance caused by different factors (such as valour, wealth etc.)

6. As it is well-known, many Asuras, by cherishing deep rooted enmity to You attained to that high position (emancipation from Saṃsāra) which only yogins with unserving devotion can reach.

7. Hence, I feel neither much ashamed nor afflicted that I have been taken prisoner and have been bound down with the noose of Varuṇa, by your worship of miraculous feats.

8. My grand-father, Prahlāda who is highly esteemed by your devotees, and whose excellent reputation of saintliness is manifest, was subjected to various cruel tortures by his own father Hiraṇyakaśipu, because he was your enemy.

9. What is the use of the body which abandons one ultimately (at the time of death? Of what worth are the robbers, designated as one’s own people (e.g. sons, kith and kin), who take away our property? Of what purpose is the wife who is the cause of transmigration in the Saṃsāra? What is the use of houses to a mortal? It is sheer waste of life here.

10. Having come to this definite decision, my eminent grand-father (Prahlāda) of unfathomable wisdom, and the prominent-most saintly person, disturbed by the company of worldly people, resorted to your lotus-like feet which are eternal and which offer immunity from fear (from any quarter), even though you were the destroyer of his relatives and partisans.

11. It is through sheer good luck that I too am brought to the presence of Yourself—You who are the destroyer of both subtle and gross bodies (of beings and thus grant liberation) and that I am forcibly made to give up my wealth (and glorious position). And it is wealth (and position) that deprives man of his judgement and makes him incapable of understanding the uncertainty of life, due to its being within clutches of death.

Śrī Śuka said:

12. While he (Bali) was addressing thus, Prahlāda, beloved of the glorious Lord, appeared (on the scene) like the full moon above the horizon, Oh foremost of Kurus!

13. Bali, having an army like that of Indra, noticed his grand-father, of majestic stature, charming appearance, with eyes large like (a pair of) lotuses, with long arms (reaching his knees), clad in yellow silken garments, bright dark in complexion yet radiant in his native effulgence.

14. Bali, being bound down with the noose of Varuṇa could not offer him worshipful reception as before. He reverentially bowed him with his head, and with his eyes full of tears, he hung his head with shame^[1] (as he remembered his egoistic actions).

15. Seeing the Protector of righteous persons sitting there, and being attended upon by his followers like Sunanda, Nanda and others, the noble-minded Prahlāda approached him and paid obeisance to him, placing his head down on the ground, while his eyes were over-whelmed with tears, and hair stood on their ends (through ecstasy).

Prahlāda said:

16. It is fortunate (and not derogatory) that the exalted position of Indra that you yourself bestowed on Bali has been retaken from him by you. I consider that great divine grace has been shown unto him (Bali) in that he has been relieved of his fortune which infatuates the mind and bewilders the soul.

17. By wealth, even a self-controlled learned person gets deluded (and forgets the essential nature of the soul, even though known previously). How can an ordinary person comprehend properly the course leading to the realization of the soul, when possessed of wealth? Hence I offer my obeisance to you (who have rendered a gracious obligation on Bali by divesting him of his wealth and glory), Oh Nārāyaṇa, the controller of the Universe and witness unto all the worlds.

Śrī Śuka said:

18. It was in the very presence of Prahlāda who stood with folded palms that god Brahmā (who emerged from the golden egg) addressed Viṣṇu, the slayer of demon Madhu, Oh King!

19. Seeing her husband so bound down, Bali’s saintly wife (Vindhyāvalī), was overwhelmed with fear. With folded palms, she bowed down to Vāmana (the younger brother of Indra), and with face drooping down in supplication burst forth in appeal (And god Brahmā respected her by giving her the priority in communicating with the Lord).

Vindhyāvalī appealed:

20. You have created these three worlds (the earth, the heaven and the subterranean region) for your own divine sport. But other persons of perverted mentality arrogate proprietory rights over it (as did Bali when he says that he has donated the three worlds as a gift and shall redeem his pledge by offering his head for the third step when as a matter of fact, he is not the master of his body, much less of the universe). You are the creator, protector and destroyer of the universe. To such as you are, what these shameless persons in whom the sense of being independent agents has been implanted by you (through youṛ Māyā), are capable of offering? Oh Lord! Be pleased to be gracious unto dull-witted Bali and setting him free from bonds, protect him.

God Brahmā said:

21. Oh Creator of living beings! Oh Controller of all creatures! Oh God of gods immanent in the Universe! Be pleased to release Bali, as he is deprived of everything and he does not deserve confinement.

22. He has gifted to you the entire earth and the higher worlds that he acquired through his pious actions. Everything owned by him including his body has been donated by him to you, without the least flinching of the mind,

23. If a person with sincere and guileless mind, offers water for washing your feet and worships them devoutly with (simple) dūrvā (Panic) grass he attains to the highest place (Liberation from saṃsāra or a place in your region, Vaikuṇṭha). Then why does Bali who has gifted to you the three worlds gleefully without the least hesitation, should suffer this calamity?

The Lord replied:

24. Oh Brahman! I take away the wealth (fortune etc.) of a person to whom I show my Grace. For being infatuated with wealth and power, a person becomes bereft of humility and shows disrespect to the world and (even) to me.

25. It is only by a lucky chance that the individual Soul, not being his own master and passing through various species of existence according to the fruits of his action, happens to be born as a human being.

26. It should be regarded as my Grace in that particular respect, if he, in the human stage of life, is not affected by pride for his lineage, achievements, youth, beauty, learning, authority, affluence and such other circumstances (and I am not constrained to deprive them of wealth etc.).

27. My devotee should not get infatuated with pride and feel lack of humility due to high birth etc. which are obstructive to the attainment of final bliss.

28. This Bali, the leader of Dānavas and Daityas and capable of enhancing their glory, has vanquished the unconquerable Māyā (deluding power of the Lord) and hence, he is not infatuated even in distress.

29. 30. He has been deprived of his wealth, dislodged from his sovereign position, insulted, reproached and fettered by his enemies, abandoned by his kith and kin, and subjected to torture, remonstrated and cursed by his spiritual preceptor, but he remained firm in his vow, and did not deviate from the truth. True to his word as he is, he did not swerve from the truth, despite my misleading him by specious arguments about Dharma (righteousness).

31. A position very difficult even for immortal celestials to attain, has been conferred upon him by me. (But as he desired Indra-hood) he will be the India under my protection in the period (Manvantara) presided over by the Manu Sāvarṇi (after which he will attain that position).

32. Till then, let him live (as a ruler) in Sutala which is constructed (more beautifully than the celestial region) by Viśvakarman (the architect of gods). There, under my gracious surveillance, the residents are not subjected to anxieties, diseases, fatigue, laziness, defeat (from internal or external enemies) or other troubles.

33. Your Majesty Indrasena (Bali)! May good betide you! Accompanied by your relatives and kinsmen, proceed to Sutala—a region worthy of being aspired after even by celestial beings.

34. Even the Lokapālas (Protectors of the worlds) shall not (be able to) vanquish you. What of others? My discus (Sudarśana) will put an end to the Daityas who will (dare to) transgress your commands.

35. I shall protect you along with your followers, retinue and property, in every respect. You will always find me present there, Oh great warrior!

36. If any demoniac ideas occur to you due to the company of Dānavas and Daityas, they shall immediately disappear at the sight of my glory and prowess.

Footnotes and references:

[1]:

Anvitārthaprakāśikā attributes this to Bali’s sense of guilt for forgetting the teach­ing of Prahlāda about humility and his disparaging remarks to Vāmana.