The popular story, current today, leads us to believe that
God became partisan and cheated a benevolent king, Mahaa[i] Bali.
In this story of distant past, there are three main players.
Mahaa Bali, Bhagavaan Vaaman, (the fifth[ii]
Avaatar of Vishnu) and Indra[iii]
(King of Devas who rules over the Swarga[iv]-Loka).
Let us see what seems to be unexplained or amiss from the narrations
surrounding them:
1) If Mahaa Bali was a good king, exiling him does not make
sense. 2) If Mahaa Bali was a bad king, giving him boons does not make sense.
3) If Mahaa Bali was good and bad at the same time does not make sense because
his subjects loved him unreservedly and no one shunned him including God the
Almighty. In fact, Mahaa Bali has a pride of place among foremost
Vishnu-Bhaktas. 4) Irrespective of Mahaa Bali being good or evil, why that land
possessed by new owner, Vaaman, was re-transferred with political powers to
Mahaa Bali’s son prince Baanaasur[v]?
5) Why did Vaaman not retain control over the legendarily happy land? 6) Was it
not a mistake to trust and transfer the land and political power to son of
adversary? 6) Episode of abdication by Mahaa Bali and Power transfer to
Banaasur is very different from other historical[vi]
transfers of power. In here, very strangely, the loser is happy, gainer is
happy, subjects are happy and the agency, which forced the change, is happy. Mahaa
Bali, goes off willingly, retains full respect, given ruler-ship of another
kingdom (Paataal[vii]-Loka
पाताल-लोक), enjoys full protection (from God),
visits his ex-kingdom, is welcomed by everyone and even his adversary, the
instrument of change, Vaaman is also respected by all. 7) Is it not unusual
that Bhagavaan Vishnu took form of, nothing colorful but just a simple Brahmin
to entice Mahaa Bali? Remember, Vishnu had disguised himself as a beautiful
maiden during ‘samudra-manthan’ as an entrapment. 8) Was Bhagavaan Vishnu a deputy of Indra or
an accomplice in the crime that he decided to act upon Indra’s pleading? God
who takes care of everybody and everything is always fair. Is it therefore not
injustice to Him, if anyone was to assume that He got into action to rid Mahaa
Bali just due to unfair pleading by Indra? Surely, there could have been
another independent reason that prompted Vishnu to take action. It does not
make sense to believe that anyone, including Indra, could manipulate and rope
in Bhagavaan Vishnu.
Above eight points suggest that there is something more to
the story and that the take away message is different from what the popular
tale compels us to believe. There is always more than what meets the eyes.
Take contemporary history of recent wars, it is not easy to
pinpoint one single or one definite reason for the war, be it WW1, WW2 or even
as latest as Iraq War. Why did allied forces, led by US attacked Iraq? Official version at one time said that it was
because of stockpile of weapons of mass destruction (WMD) in Iraq. However,
that reason proved to be false and political analysts forwarded many
alternative theories. It could have been that the West wanted to exercise
control over Iraq’s petroleum assets or that they wanted to help Saudi Arabia,
who feared from increased military power of Iraq. May be, West feared Iraq may
go beyond after annexation of Kuwait and then the possibility of Iraq’s control
over Gulf waters (the main waterways that carry petroleum to the world). It
could also be that US feared marginalizing their greenback due to Saddam’s
insistence on selling petroleum to the world in non-dollar currency such as
Euro (thereby reducing Iraq’s dependence on USD and US). This shows us that one
or more than one or none of the known reason can be the real reason.
Similarly, Indra’s fear of losing Indra-Aasan[viii]
(Indraasan) may not be the reason or may not be the only reason, why was Mahaa
Bali exiled by Vaaman and why was he replaced by Banaasur.
From our experience with Hindu texts, we know that none of the
writers of Hindu texts has ever done injustice to the characters involved. When
they praise Raam, good qualities of Raavan are not forgotten and when narrating
Krishna, good qualities of Kamsa and Jaraasangh are not overlooked. When
praising Mahaa Bali, would they not describe his vanquisher, Vaaman? Hinduism
encourages its followers to be logical, to have no inhibition in investigating
until truth emerges. Hinduism does not oppose scientific enquiry.
If a good king is exiled instead of rewarded and if his
detractor is not condemned but deified, an intelligent person would
investigate. Especially because, those knowledgeable in Hinduism studies tell
us that every element, every process and every narration in Hinduism is for the
sole purpose of guiding humans to a ‘higher’ or ‘elevated’ life based on human
dignity, gratefulness, selfless service and freedom from wants. Conversely,
therefore, every process that has a potential of steering humans towards ignominy,
ungratefulness or selfishness is unmeritorious. Its torchbearers, especially, Avataars
have to set an example and cannot be cheats, jealous, partisan or unjust.
[i]
King Bali is addressed as Mahaa Bali. ‘Mahaa’ is an adjective. It means ‘Great’
or ‘Big’. Adding ‘Mahaa’ to any word or noun signifies importance. Viz. Mahaa-Raaja=Great King, Mahaa-Bali=Great
Bali, Mahaa-Yogi=Great Yogi
[ii]
Bhagavaan Vishnu has taken nine Avataars as of now and tenth expected in
future. They are, in the chronological order: Matsya, Kurma, Varaaha, Nara-simha,
Vaamana, Parasuraam, Raam, Krishna, Buddha and Kalki.
[iii]
‘Indra’ is not a name of an individual but it denotes a position, a post. A
king of all the Devas is known as ‘Indra’. He rules the ‘Swarga-Loka’ (heaven).
From time to time various individuals have occupied the chair of Indra, known
as ‘Indraasan’. The post of ‘Indra’ is given to fearless and fair administrator
who has performed a thousand Ashwamedha Yagnas (Even one single ashwamedha
Yagna is not easy for an extraordinarily brave man) and possessor of divine
virtues and intelligence. Name of the current ‘Indra’ is Purandhar.
[iv]
‘Swarga-Loka’ means Heaven. However, the Heaven of Hinduism is completely
different entity than Abrahamic Heaven.
[v]
Baanaasur ruled for several years on the guidelines of good governance he
learnt from Waaman. He is said to have ruled for several thousand years.
Pleased with his Tapasyaa, (तपस्या), Bhagavaan Shiva was very impressed and gave him enormous powers and
promised to help him every time he thought he needed His help. He became
invincible. His power eventually went to his head. That proverbial truth ‘Power
corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely’ became true and in his later
life, he became such a nuisance to his own people that he had to be disciplined
by divine intervention. (The word, Tapasyaa, has no exact equivalent English
term, hence it is recommended to use the same Sanskrit term. However, following
partial definition provides somewhat acceptable meaning as applicable to above
article is: ‘Hard work dedicated to a worthy cause’)
[vi] The
manner of transfer of power in case of Mahaa Bali was unusual when compared
with what is known to us from History. Most transfers of power have happened
only after some bloodshed; blood-less transfer-of-power in itself is uncommon.
British government did exile and placed many kings, sultans and sheikhs under
‘house-arrest’ but it was done at gun point and had placed their sons/brothers
as new rulers in last century or two in India and in Arabia. The outgoing
rulers never relinquished their power willingly. In contrast to the ‘under duress’
and unwilling transfer of reigns, Mahaa Bali handed over reigns willingly. In
the last century, in Iran, the Shah of Iran was exiled but he could never
return to Iran due to hostile new government very unlike Mahaa Bali, who is
welcomed back every year. In the USSR, Gorbachev relinquished his powers but
broke his country in several pieces before going out, unlike Mahaa Bali whose
country remained intact in the hands of his successor. Another striking
difference is that the rulers who are exiled invariably end up despising those
who were instrumental in pressurizing transfer of power but the history of
Mahaa Bali tells us that Vaaman, who engineered the abdication, is looked at
with tremendous respect. Last, but important difference between Vaaman’s legacy
and that of others discussed above lies in the fact that those agencies that
forced changes had always a selfish purpose of achieving political or
commercial advantage whereas Vaaman did not have any personal selfish motive
behind exiling Mahaa Bali.
[vii]
‘Paataal-Loka’ means, a world that is under the earth. It is also said as
netherworld
[viii]
Indra-Aasan or Indraasan means, ‘Seat of Indra’ or ‘Indra’s throne’
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