Vāmana, Bali and the Source of the Gautamī

This account is told in the Brahma Mahā Purāṇa, in the Gautamī Māhātmya, Chapter 4. The asura Bali ruled the three worlds with great virtue, and the devas lost their place. Bhagavān Vishṇu was born as the dwarf Vāmana, took the three worlds from Bali in three steps, and gave the kingdom back to Indra. Then Brahmā offered argha (an offering of water) at Vishṇu’s foot. The water flowed from Mount Meru in four streams, and the southern stream became the source of the Gautamī.

Bali’s rule and the grief of the devas

The asura Bali had no equal in the three worlds. No one matched him in virtue, fame, care for his people, respect for elders and teachers, truthfulness, strength, giving up and patience. While he ruled the three worlds there was no famine and no evil. There was no wickedness and no denial of the divine. No enemy, no illness and no worry was known. All the three worlds lived under his just care.

Yet this very wealth grieved the devas, for they had no place and no joy. They were burned by the fire of Bali’s fame and cut by the sword of his renown. They went to Bhagavān Vishṇu and cried: “Our lordship has been taken away. How can the heads of those who bow to you, bow to an asura? Having your feet alone as our shelter, how can we bow to him?”

Vishṇu’s answer and Vāmana’s birth

Bhagavān Vishṇu answered openly: “This asura Bali is my devotee. Just as you are all persons to be nourished by me, so also is Bali. Without a battle I shall take away his kingdom and bind him by words of miraculous power.”

Bhagavān Vishṇu then entered the womb of Aditi and was born as Vāmana, the dwarf, the lord of yajñas (fire rituals).

The three steps

Bali was in the middle of a great horse yajña, with his priest Śukra in charge. Devas, gandharvas and nāgas waited for their shares. Vāmana came to the yajña hall, wearing ear-rings and carrying an umbrella, softly singing Sāman verses.

Śukra knew Vāmana at once and warned Bali: “This brahmin of dwarf form is not truly a brahmin. He is the lord of yajñas himself. Do nothing without consulting me first.”

But Bali, the great-hearted asura, was not moved. He said: “Blessed am I. The lord of yajñas has come unexpectedly to my house. Of what avail is cogitation?” He came to Vāmana with joined palms. Vāmana asked for only three steps of ground. Bali poured the water of giving from his jewelled vessel and offered the Earth.

As Bali said the words “So be it,” Vāmana grew to a cosmic size. The moon and the sun reached only to his chest, and the devas were above his head. With one step he covered the Earth and the yajña hall. With the second step he covered the whole cosmos.

No ground was left for the third step. Bali kept his word and offered his own back. Bhagavān Vishṇu stepped on it. Bali was sent to the nether worlds with his son and wife. He was given the future rank of Indra, great fame and rule over the nether worlds. The kingdom of the devas was given back to Indra.

Brahmā’s argha and the four streams

Vishṇu’s second step, which covered all creation, became Brahmā’s abode. Brahmā held the sacred water jar that Bhagavān Śiva had given him at Pārvatī’s wedding. He thought: “What is that act which shall be auspicious in this second step of Vishṇu, whereby my water jar shall become excellent?”

He took the waters from the jar. These were the made-holy waters, the essence of the Earth and of the first flood, the nectar of all rivers. He offered argha to his father Vishṇu. The water, made holy by mantras, fell on Vishṇu’s foot. From there it struck Meru and flowed from the top of the mountain in four great streams:

• East: caught by the ṛshis, devas, pitṛs (the ancestors) and guardians of the directions. It is the most famous stream.
• South: caught by Śaṅkara in his matted hair. It became the source of the Gautamī.
• West: flowed back into Brahmā’s water jar.
• North: caught by Bhagavān Vishṇu himself.

The waters that flow south, caught in the matted hair of Maheśvara, are the mothers of the worlds. They come from Vishṇu’s foot, and they always bring good to all beings. By staying in Śiva’s matted hair they gained a special power: by merely remembering them, a person gains all his dear wishes.

So the source of the Gautamī is traced at once to Śiva’s consecration, to the first waters, and to Brahmā’s act of devotion at Vishṇu’s cosmic step.

Sources

• Brahma Mahā Purāṇa, Gautamī Māhātmya, Chapter 4
• Brahma Mahā Purāṇa, Gautamī Māhātmya, Chapters 2 and 3 (the water jar given at Pārvatī’s wedding)