Vāmana Avatāra (Narasiṃha Purāṇa)
The Narasiṃha Purāṇa tells the Vāmana avatāra in Chapter 45. Bali Cakravartī conquers the three worlds and takes Amarāvatī from Indra. Aditi does tapas (austerity) to have Vishṇu as her son. Vāmana is born and goes to Bali’s great yajña. Śukrācārya knows Vāmana and warns Bali, but Bali goes on with the gift. One mark of this account is that Śukrācārya enters the kalaśa (the water-vessel) to block the flow of water during the gift, and Vāmana pierces Śukrācārya’s eye with a blade of kuśa grass. Vāmana then grows into Trivikrama, covers all the worlds in two steps and sends Bali to Pātāla with the promise that he will be Indra in a later manvantara.
Bali’s conquest of the three worlds
Bali Cakravartī was the grandson of Prahlāda and the heir of the Daitya line. By mighty tapas he gained power that had no equal. With a huge army he conquered Indraloka and drove Indra and the devas out of Amarāvatī. He spread his rule over all three worlds: svarga (heaven), Bhūloka and Pātāla. The devas had no home and were in despair. They went to Bhagavān Vishṇu for shelter. (Chapter 45)
Aditi’s tapas and the birth of Vāmana
Aditi, the mother of the devas, did hard tapas to gain a son who could give Indra his place back. Bhagavān Vishṇu was moved by Aditi’s devotion and by the prayer of the devas. He agreed to be born as Aditi’s son. He was the twelfth son of Kaśyapa and Aditi, and he was born as a small brāhmaṇa boy of modest form. This was the Vāmana avatāra. He was born on the holy day of Bhādrapada Śukla Dvādaśī. All the ṛshis and devas who had gathered gave him the sacred thread (upanayana). (Chapter 45)
The great yajña of Bali
Bali Cakravartī was performing an immense yajña, an Aśvamedha on an extraordinary scale. At it he gave any vara (boon) that anyone asked of him. Vāmana, the brāhmaṇa boy, came to Bali’s yajña with a kamaṇḍalu (water pot) and a single umbrella, and he was received with every honour. Bali saw the divine shine of the child, small as he was, and offered himself to grant whatever he wished. (Chapter 45)
Śukrācārya’s warning and his pierced eye
Śukrācārya, the guru of the daityas and a master of hidden wisdom, knew at once that Vāmana was Bhagavān Vishṇu in disguise. He went to Bali in private and warned him: “This is not an ordinary brāhmaṇa boy. This is Vishṇu himself, come to take back from you everything you have won. Do not give him anything. His ‘small’ request will grow until it holds all that exists.” (Chapter 45)
Bali heard the warning but still chose to keep his promise. He answered that he had made a vow before the sacred fire and could not break it. He said that to refuse Bhagavān Vishṇu himself would be the greater pāpa (sin). Śukrācārya could not change his mind, so he decided to block the gift in another way. By his hidden powers he made his body small and went into the kalaśa, the vessel used to pour water over the giver’s hands in the ceremony of giving. If no water flowed, the gift could not be formally completed. (Chapter 45)
Vāmana knew of the block. He took a blade of kuśa grass and put it into the spout of the kalaśa to clear it. The kuśa blade struck Śukrācārya’s eye, pierced it and blinded him in one eye. Śukrācārya cried out in pain and had to come out of the vessel. From that moment he had lost the sight of one eye. The water flowed freely, and the gift of three paces of land was formally completed. (Chapter 45)
This episode accounts for Śukrācārya’s one-eyed look, which is spoken of in later chapters. In Chapter 55 Śukrācārya goes on a tīrtha yātrā (journey to sacred places) to have his eye restored through the grace of Bhagavān Vishṇu.
The Trivikrama growth
When the gift was made firm, Vāmana began to grow. His form spread to fill all creation. His first step covered the whole earth. His second step took in all of svarga and the other realms of the devas. Bali saw that no place was left for a third step, and he offered his own head as the third place. Bhagavān Vāmana set his foot on Bali’s head and pressed him down into Pātāla. (Chapter 45)
Bali sent to Pātāla and the promise of future Indrahood
Bali was sent to rule Pātāla as its king. It was a place of great dignity, but it kept him apart from the svarga he had won by his own effort. Bhagavān Vāmana saw Bali’s great nobility in keeping his promise even at the cost of everything, and gave him a vara. In the coming Sāvarṇi Manvantara, the eighth manvantara, Bali himself would become Indra and rule svarga. With Bali in Pātāla, Indra and the devas were given back Amarāvatī and their own stations. (Chapter 45)
Sources
- Narasiṃha Purāṇa, Chapter 45
- Narasiṃha Purāṇa, Chapter 55, mentioned for Śukrācārya’s journey to have his eye restored