Bala (Daitya)
Bala was a daitya, a son of Diti and Kaśyapa Prajāpati. The Bhūmi Khaṇḍa of the Padma Mahā Purāṇa tells his story. Diti wanted a son who could defeat Indra, and Bala was born for that purpose.
Indra killed Bala with his vajra (thunderbolt) while Bala sat at the ocean shore doing his sandhyā prayer. In anger at this killing, Kaśyapa created Vṛtrāsura to avenge his son.
Birth and purpose
Bhagavān Vishṇu (Śrī Hari) and the devas had killed Hiraṇyakaśipu, Hiraṇyāksha and others of Diti’s sons. The forces of the daityas and dānavas were nearly destroyed. Diti was filled with grief and rage for her lost children. She undertook tapas (austerity). Then she went to Kaśyapa in lamentation and asked for a son who would avenge them.
She asked for a son with these qualities:
- equal to Indra in tejas (radiant power)
- full of all good qualities
- a conqueror of all the worlds
- rich in brahma-tejas (the power of a brāhmaṇa)
- all-knowing
- devoted to brāhmaṇas
Kaśyapa felt pity for his suffering wife. He placed his hand on her head and granted her wish. He then went to Mount Meru for tapas. Diti carried the child for a hundred years and kept herself perfectly pure.
The child was named Bala, a name that suited his great strength. Kaśyapa performed his upanayana (the sacred thread ceremony) and sent him into brahmacarya (the student life).
Tapas and killing
Bala practised tapas and brahmacarya for a hundred years. In this time he gathered extraordinary power, and he was preparing to wage war on the devas.
Aditi, the mother of Indra, saw Bala’s growing strength. She warned her son Indra that Bala had been born to destroy him. Indra was seized by fear. He looked for a way to kill Bala without open war.
One day Bala came to the ocean shore for sandhyā-vandana (the prayers at the junction of day and night). He sat in his āsana (seat), absorbed in the sacred rite. Indra struck him with the vajra while he was doing sandhyā. This was a treacherous act, because Bala was in the middle of worship. Bala fell dead.
The Bhūmi Khaṇḍa presents this killing during sacred rites, with no honour of battle in it, as the cause of Kaśyapa’s rage and of the creation of Vṛtrāsura.
The birth of Vṛtrāsura
Diti brought Kaśyapa the news that Bala was dead. The great ṛshi burned with fury. He tore out one of his jaṭā (matted locks) and threw it into the sacred fire. From that fire Vṛtrāsura was born. He was a huge and terrifying being, created to destroy Indra.
So the death of Bala was the direct cause of the birth of Vṛtrāsura. This began the next great conflict between the daityas and the devas.
Sources
- Padma Mahā Purāṇa, Bhūmi Khaṇḍa, Chapters 23–24