Vāmana and the Origin of Gaṅgā in the Nārada Purāṇa

The Nārada Mahā Purāṇa tells the origin of Gaṅgā together with the Vāmana avatāra. Bali, the mighty daitya king and grandson of Prahlāda, won the three worlds after a war of eight thousand years. Aditi, the mother of the devas, did tapas on the Himālaya for her sons. Bhagavān Vishṇu was pleased and promised to be born as her son. As Vāmana he came to Bali’s great yajña (fire ritual), asked for three paces of land, and grew to the size of the cosmos. His second step pierced the shell of the brahmāṇḍa (the egg of the universe). The waters outside the universe flowed in, touched his foot, and became Gaṅgā.

Bali’s lineage and conquest

The daityas come from Diti, daughter of Dakshaprajāpati and wife of Kaśyapa Maharshi. The devas, including the twelve Ādityas, come from Aditi, Kaśyapa’s other wife. Both groups have the same father but different, rival mothers. For this reason the asuras are also called Pūrvadevas (the earlier or elder devas), and they are always in rivalry with the Ādityas.

Bali’s line runs: Diti, Hiraṇyakaśipu, Prahlāda (the greatest devotee of Bhagavān Vishṇu), Virocana, Bali. Bali had a hundred sons, and the eldest was the mighty Bāṇāsura. He had a vast army of crores of elephants, endless chariots, horsemen and foot soldiers. The daitya minister Kumbhāṇḍa and Kūpakarṇa guided him. Bali decided to conquer svarga (heaven).

The war between the devas and the dānavas lasted eight thousand years. Vajrapāṇi (Indra) and all the devas fought bravely, but Bali’s forces won. The devas were driven out of Amarāvatī. They fled to the earth in human disguise and wandered in hiding. Bali held all three worlds. He performed great yajñas in honour of Śrī Mahāvishṇu. He carried out the duties of Indra and of the ashṭadikpālas (the eight guardians of the directions), and he ruled in great prosperity. Even the havis (offering) that brāhmaṇas made in their yajñas was taken by Bali as lord of the three worlds.

Aditi’s tapas on the Himālaya

Aditi, the divine mother of the devas, saw her sons’ trouble with deep grief. She went to the Himālaya and began fierce tapas. She stood on one foot, then on her toes. She lived on fruits, then dry leaves, then water alone, then air, then nothing at all. She did this for one thousand divine years, and all the while she meditated on Śrī Mahāvishṇu, whose nature is truth, awareness and bliss (Sacchidānanda).

Bali heard of this and sent rākshasas in the form of devas to turn her back. They spoke of how selfish her purpose was and urged her to stop. She did not move. The rākshasas, in rage, set the forest on fire. The flames burned the whole forest, a hundred yojanas wide, but Aditi stood unharmed in the blaze. Bhagavān Vishṇu’s Sudarśana Cakra protected her.

Aditi’s stotra and Vishṇu’s promise

Bhagavān Śrī Mahāvishṇu appeared before Aditi. His lotus face shone and his eyes were wide as lotus petals. He carried the śaṅkha (conch), cakra (discus), gadā (mace) and padma (lotus). He laid his divine hand on her. Aditi then offered a long stotra (hymn of praise).

She praised him as the cause of the devas, as the one who fills all things through sattva, rajas and tamas, and as the ruler of all worlds. She praised him as having endless forms yet no form, and as holding oneness and many-ness together. She called him the one from whose face the brāhmaṇas were born, from whose arms the kshatriyas, from whose thighs the vaiśyas, and from whose feet the śūdras. From his mind came the moon, from his eye the sun, from his mouth Agni and Indra, and from his prāṇas (life-breaths) Vāyu. She praised the Ṛg, Yajur and Sāma Vedas as his own form. She said that even Brahmā and the other devas cannot grasp his true nature, and that he is the inner witness of all. She spoke of how he saved Ajāmila through the power of the Name alone, as proof of his free grace.

Then she said: “I do not wish harm to the children of Diti, for they too are my sons. Give my sons prosperity without harming them.”

Bhagavān Vishṇu was pleased with her even-handed heart and replied: “I am pleased. I will be born as your son. Whoever recites this stotra will always have children who are prosperous and long-lived. Whoever looks on his own child and another’s child with equal eyes will never grieve for a son.”

Aditi said she could not carry one who holds crores of brahmāṇḍas in the pores of his skin. Bhagavān Vishṇu gently reassured her. Those free from rāga-dvesha (liking and dislike), those devoted to Bhagavān Śiva, those who listen to his kathā (stories), faithful wives (pativratā), and those who serve their parents and guru can all carry him. He gave her his flower garland as a sign and disappeared.

At Vāmana’s birth, Kaśyapa Maharshi offered a stotra. He praised Bhagavān Vishṇu as the ātman of all beings, the conqueror of Keśi and the bearer of the bow Śārṅga. He said that Bhagavān Vishṇu had come before as Matsya, Varāha and Narasiṃha, and would now appear as Vāmana to restore order in the cosmos.

Vāmana comes to Bali’s yajña

In time Aditi gave birth to Vāmana. He carried the śaṅkha and cakra. His skin was white like the moon. He held a pot of amṛta (the drink of immortality) and curds, and wore yellow robes. His eyes were wide as full-blown lotuses, and he shone with the brightness of a thousand suns in one form. This was the twelfth avatāra of Śrī Mahāvishṇu among the sons of Aditi.

Bali Cakravartī was performing a great dīrghasattra yajña (a long sacrificial session) with his guru Śukrācārya and other ṛshis. The ṛshis who were present knew the approaching Vāmana to be Śrī Mahāvishṇu in disguise, and they rose in respect. Śukrācārya saw what Bhagavān Vishṇu intended and warned Bali in private: “Bhagavān Vishṇu has come in the form of Vāmana to take your wealth. Give him nothing.” He said that one should kill even a friend who acts against one’s good.

Bali answered with the calm of a true bhakta: “What greater fortune could I have than that Śrī Mahāvishṇu himself comes to receive my gift? If even a small offering to him brings fruit beyond measure, what can be said of this? The whole purpose of our yajña is to please him. Let him take what he wishes.” He welcomed Vāmana by washing his feet (pādaprakshālana) and offering arghya (water of welcome), with tears of joy.

Vāmana said he wanted only three paces of land for his tapas. Bali laughed and said: “You could have asked for kingdoms or cities. Why only three paces?” Vāmana answered with a teaching on non-attachment. Those free from all attachment (saṅga) need nothing from others, because the whole universe rests in the ātman. He then spoke at length on the greatness of bhūmi-dāna (the gift of land). He gave the story of Bhadramati and Sughosha as an example of how land given to a poor brāhmaṇa brings moksha.

Bali took up the water vessel to make the gift. Śukrācārya slipped into the spout to block the flow of water. Bhagavān Vāmana knew this and pierced the blockage with the tip of a darbha blade. This put out Śukrācārya’s eye for good. Bali then completed the gift (dāna).

The cosmic strides and the origin of Gaṅgā

Bhagavān Vāmana grew to the size of the cosmos and became the viśvātman (the self of all). With his first step he covered the whole earth. With his second step he reached beyond Brahmaloka, and the tip of his big toe pierced the outer shell of the brahmāṇḍa.

Through that opening the waters of the outer universe, which lie beyond the brahmāṇḍa, flowed in great streams. They touched the shining foot of Śrī Mahāvishṇu and were made pure and holy beyond measure. These waters fell on the peak of Mount Meru and flowed from there to the earth in seven streams. This is how Gaṅgā came to be. She is the pāda-jala (foot-water) of Śrī Mahāvishṇu, the water that touched his divine foot.

Brahmā, the devas, the ṛshis and the Manus saw this wonder and offered a stotra: “Namaskāra to the Pureśa, the very form of Paramātmā, the Parāt-para. Namaskāra to the one who holds many forms, to the one whose form is Brahman, to the one whose wisdom is the home of pure ānanda (bliss), to the one whose actions cannot be blocked.”

There was no ground left for a third pace. Bali kept his vow of great giving (mahādāna-vrata) and offered his own head. Bhagavān Vāmana placed his foot on it and bound Bali. But he saw that Bali was a śaraṇāgata (one who takes refuge) of unmatched nobility. So he gave Bali the kingdom of Rasātala, and he stayed there himself as Bali’s doorkeeper. Any havis offered without the right mantras, any dāna given to an unworthy person, and any puṇya not properly earned: all of these gather in Rasātala and become Bali’s food.

The chapter ends with the fruit of hearing this Gaṅgā-māhātmya (the glory of Gaṅgā). One who reads or hears it in a temple or on a riverbank receives the fruit of an Aśvamedha yajña.

What the Nārada Purāṇa teaches here

The Nārada Purāṇa gives the Vāmana episode as part of its long account of the glory of Gaṅgā. Its main teaching is that Gaṅgā’s power to purify comes straight from the touch of Bhagavān Vishṇu’s foot (pāda-sparśa). The account also shows Bali’s goodness (sādhu-lakshaṇa). Though he was an asura, his devotion and giving were so complete that he gave Bhagavān Vāmana even what he knew would cost him everything. In return he won the lasting presence of Bhagavān Vishṇu as his guard. The account also puts weight on Aditi’s stotra, especially her even-handed love for devas and asuras.

Sources

• Nārada Mahā Purāṇa, Poorvardha, Chapters 70–71