Vamana Avatar: The Fifth Incarnation Of Lord Vishnu

Lord Vishnu had taken many forms to help the righteous and bring all kinds of evil to an end. So far, in his first four incarnations, he had slain demons, but as Vaman, he won over a demon in mere three steps.

Vaman is the very first human incarnation of Lord Vishnu and the only one that needed to do no killings to establish to eradicate all the evil from the world. And this was because his ‘opponent’ was not an evil demon king, but a righteous one.

Hindu Puranas state that Vaman Dev was born to the great Sage Kashyap and his wife, Aditi, that made him one of the 12 Adityas. Being the last Aditya, he is also known as Upendra and is the first completely human incarnation of Lord Vishnu.

To know the story of Vamana Dev and Daityaraj Mahabali, we will need to learn the story of Bali’s defeat and his greatness.

Story of Mahabali’s defeat

The real story of Mahabali starts from his father Virochan’s death. Virochan, father of Bali and son of noble King Prahlad was as great a king as Prahlad himself.

With his greatness and noble actions, he had established his reign over all three worlds. Insecure and having his own Kingdom lost, Lord Indra decided that the only way of defeating Virochan was getting his head separated from his body.

Indra knew that Virochan was a benevolent king and he wouldn’t refuse alms to any sage or Brahmin. So disguising himself as a sage, Indra asked Virochan for his head as alms.

Despite knowing that it would be his death, Virochan did not refuse Indra and presented him with his head as alms.

After his father’s death, King Mahabali was established as the new Demon King but being a newly established King and inexperienced, he was easily defeated by Lord Indra. As Lord Indra gained back all three Kingdoms, Mahabali took help from Asura guru Shukracharya.

Mahabali Wins Three Worlds Again

Distraught and defeated, Mahabali took help from Asura guru Shukracharya who suggested he conducts a Mahabhishek Vishwajeet Yagya which will help him gain back all that he lost.

Shukracharya also suggested King Bali give alms to the poor and brahmins, help the needy, and rule with virtue.

Under the supervision of Shukracharya, he performed the Mahabhishek Yagya and various other sacrifices. The great yajna provided Bali a golden chariot of four horses that ran with the speed of the wind, a quiver with infinite arrows, a flag post with a lion's head, and celestial armor.

Apart from all this that he gained from the yajna, his guru Shukracharya gave him a garland made of ever-blooming flowers and a conch shell.

Armed with all his latent powers and gifts, this time when Lord Bali went to war with Indra, he defeated the King of heaven and gained control of all three worlds.

After he won, Bali sought the guidance of Shukracharya on maintaining his position as the lord of the three worlds and followed all his suggestions.

Indra’s worry

Needless to say, Lord Indra was not happy about what had now happened. Distraught and defeated, he asked for his own mentor, Sage Brihaspati’s guidance. Brihaspati suggested Lord Indra wait for his own time to come and meanwhile pray to Lord Vishnu.

On the other hand, Indra’s mother and wife of great sage Rishi Kashyap, Aditi was also sad and distraught by her son’s defeat. She took her plea to her husband, Sage Kashyap who advised her to instead pray to Lord Vishnu.

Mother Aditi then performed the payo-vrata vow in which she had nothing but milk for 12 days and prayed to Lord Vishnu. Lord Vishnu appeared in front of mother Aditi on the thirteenth day and asked about her wishes and prayers.

Mother Aditi said that King Bali had taken over all three kingdoms, and even though he himself is great, other asuras might start tormenting everyone soon. Mother Aditi then prayed that Lord Vishnu be born as her son to end Bali’s rule.

Lord Vishnu knew Bali was a great King, but he also knew it was important to restore heaven and earth to Gods. He granted Aditi’s wishes and promised to be born as her thirteenth son.

Vamana meets Bali

Soon after Vamana dev was born to mother Aditi and rishi Kashyap and grew into a short-statured boy with an umbrella and Kamandala in each hand.

Mother Aditi told Vamana dev that he must restore the three worlds to Lord Indra and other gods for everyone’s welfare.

On the other hand, King Bali was acquiring everything, and his desire to gain more increased. He was once performing the esteemed Ashwamedha yajna when a blinding light filled the place and obstructed his eyesight. When everyone’s eyes adjusted to the light, they noticed dwarf-statured brahmin there - Vamana dev.

As Bali had taken the oath to always provide anything to a Brahmin if asked and to always treat them respectfully, he quickly welcomed Vamana Dev in the sacrifice.

After providing him the highest seat in the yajna, Bali asked Vamana dev to ask whatever he would like for alms. Vamana dev said, “Give me land that I can cover in three strides.”

Bali said he should ask more - what’s land worth three strides? Vamana dev replied, “The one who can’t be satisfied in three strides worth of land will not be satisfied with even a continent.”

Hearing this Bali laughed and agreed to give Vamana dev what he had asked.

Bali’s fall and boon

As Bali was about to give away what Vamana dev asked,Shukracharya stopped him, saying this dwarf is none other than Vishnu who is here to help Gods. Bali said that nothing could be done anymore because Bali had already given his word and could not turn on it.

No matter how much Shukracharya tried to convince him, Bali wouldn’t listen. Angered, Shukracharya cursed Bali for ignoring his command and said that he would lose all his high position.

The words weren’t even out of Shukracharya’s mouth and Vamana dev suddenly started growing in size, so much that he covered the sky and towered over the earth.

Vamana dev took his steps - in the first stride he covered the earth and in his second stride he covered heaven. He then asked Bali where he could keep his third step and Bali, devoted, presented his head to the Lord.

Vamana dev smiled and placed his foot on Bali’s head, thus completing his three steps and winning everything from Bali. As gods got their heaven back, Lord Vishnu blessed Bali with a boon, “You are a virtuous king, Bali. You will forever rule the Pataal Lok and will become the next Indra!”

And thus, Vamana dev restored their rightful positions to not only gods, but also prevented injustice with Bali.