Vamana Dvadashi - Appearance of Lord Vamanadeva

Lord Vishnu appeared at an auspicious moment as the son of Kashyapa and Aditi. After His appearance, the Lord assumed the form of a dwarf (Vamana). After His sacred thread ceremony, wearing a belt made of munja straw, an upper garment of deerskin, and a sacred thread and carrying in His hands a danda, an umbrella, and a water-pot (kamandalu), Lord Vamanadeva appeared in the sacrificial arena of Maharaja Bali. After washing the Lord’s feet, Bali Maharaja immediately accepted the water from the Lord’s feet on his head and felt that he and his predecessors had certainly been glorified. Then Bali Maharaja inquired of Lord Vamanadeva’s welfare and requested the Lord to ask him for money, jewels, or anything He might desire.

Lord Vamanadeva begged the King for three paces of land. Bali Maharaja agreed to give this land in charity since this was very insignificant, but Shukaracharya, his spiritual master who could understand that Vamanadeva was Vishnu, forbade Bali Maharaja to give this land. Bali Maharaja gave everything to the Lord in charity, and thus the Lord extended His body and assumed a gigantic form as Lord Vishnu.

Lord Vamanadeva then immediately extended Himself into a universal body. The Lord gradually covered the entire surface of the world, and by extending His body He covered the entire sky. With His hands, He covered all directions, and with His second footstep, He covered the entire upper planetary system. Therefore there was no vacant place where He could take His third footstep.

When Bali Maharaja was thus reduced to a helpless position, Lord Vishnu asked him for the third step of land. Bali Maharaja was extremely truthful. Being unable to keep his promise, he was very much afraid, for he knew that one who has deviated from truthfulness is insignificant in the eyes of society. He decided to give his head in charity as the place for Vishnu’s third step. Bali Maharaja also considered how great personalities give up their family relationships and material possessions to satisfy the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Indeed, they sometimes even sacrifice their lives for the satisfaction of the Lord, just to become His personal servants. Accordingly, by following in the footsteps of previous acharyas and devotees, Bali Maharaja perceived himself successful.

While Bali Maharaja, having been arrested by the ropes of Varuna, was offering prayers to the Lord, his grandfather Prahlada Maharaja appeared there and described how the Supreme Personality of Godhead had delivered Bali Maharaja by taking his possessions in a tricky way. While Prahlada Maharaja was present, Lord Brahma and Bali’s wife, Vindhyavali, described the supremacy of the Supreme Lord. Since Bali Maharaja had given everything to the Lord, they prayed for his release. The Lord then described how a non-devotees possession of wealth is a danger whereas a devotee’s opulence is a benediction from the Lord. Then, being pleased with Bali Maharaja, the Supreme Lord offered His disc to protect Bali Maharaja and promised to remain with him.

The great soul Bali Maharaja experienced that the highest gain in life is to attain devotional service under the shelter of the Lord’s lotus feet in full surrender. Being fixed in this conclusion, his heart full of ecstatic devotion and his eyes full of tears, he offered obeisances to the Personality of Godhead and then, with his associates, entered the planet known as Sutala. Thus the Supreme Personality of Godhead satisfied the desire of Aditi and reinstalled Lord Indra.

The Lord then ordered Shukaracharya to describe Bali Maharaja’s faults and discrepancies in executing the sacrificial ceremony. Shankaracharya became free from fruitive actions by chanting the holy name of the Lord, and he explained how chanting can diminish all the faults of the conditioned soul. He then completed Bali Maharaja’s sacrificial ceremony. All the great saintly persons accepted Lord Vamanadeva as the benefactor of Lord Indra because He had returned Indra to his heavenly planet. They accepted the Supreme Personality of Godhead as the maintainer of all the affairs of the universe. Being very happy, Indra, along with his associates, placed Vamanadeva before him and reentered the heavenly planet in their airplane. Having seen the wonderful activities of Lord Vishnu in the sacrificial arena of Bali Maharaja, all the demigods, saintly persons, Pitas, Bhutas, and Siddhas glorified the Lord again and again.

Bali Maharaja, his eyes filled with tears, his hands folded and his voice faltering in devotional ecstasy, responded as follows:

What a wonderful effect there is in even attempting to offer respectful obeisances to You! I merely endeavored to offer You obeisances, but nonetheless, the attempt was as successful as those of pure devotees. The causeless mercy You have shown to me, a fallen demon was never achieved even by the demigods or the leaders of the various planets.

- Lord Vamanadeva, the Dwarf Incarnation,

Excerpts from Srimad Bhagavatam 8th canto