Today is very beautiful and auspicious as we celebrate Mahadvadashi and it is also the appearance day of Sri Vamanadeva.
As soon as Krishna appeared, He spoke about Vamanadeva to Devaki and Vasudeva. In Satya-yuga, Devaki and Vasudeva were praying and performing austerities. At that time, they were in a different birth and had different names. Devaki and Vasudeva performed austerities for thousands of years to have Bhagavan Vishnu as their son. And for their austerities, Lord Vishnu appeared before them. When He appeared before Devaki and Vasudeva, they asked Him, “Please give us a son like You.” Vishnu said, “It’s not possible to have a son like Me, because I am just one, there is no other like Me. However, since you have performed such great austerities…I am very satisfied with you and very happy. I am unable to give you someone like Me. But I, Myself will be your son in all three following ages. And I will remind you that I am that Vishnu for whom you performed great austerities.” After saying this, Lord Vishnu disappeared.
The Lord Himself, appeared as Prishnigarbha in Satya-yuga, and for the second time, the Lord Himself, appeared as Vamanadeva— the son of Kashyapa and Aditi. In their following lives, Prishni and Sutapa now appeared as Kashyapa and Aditi, and the Lord appeared as their son, Lord Vamanadeva. And in their next lives, Aditi and Kashyapa were born as Vasudeva and Devaki. In the second age, they were born as Kashyapa and Aditi, and Vishnu was born as Vamanadeva. And in another birth, Vishnu appeared as Krishna from Devaki’s womb. Actually, He appeared from her womb as Lord Narayana, with shankha and chakra and told them, “Please, have My darshana. As I promised, I have appeared as your son. This will be My last appearance as your son. First I was born as Prishnigarbha, second time as Vamana and now this third time…when you are Devaki and Vasudeva, I am born as your son and the whole world will call Me Vasudeva Krishna. Please have My darshana of Narayana.” Thus, while they were in the prison of Kamsa, Lord Vishnu appeared as Narayana before Devaki and Vasudeva.
Now I will briefly speak on Lord Vamanadeva’s pastimes. For infinite time, there has always been a war between demons and demigods. Since the beginning of time, they have been fighting with each other.
In Srimad Bhagavad-gita (16.6), Bhagavan tells Arjuna:
dvau bhūta-sargau loke ’smin daiva āsura eva ca daivo vistaraśaḥ prokta āsuraṁ pārtha me śṛṇu
[O son of Pritha, in this world there are two kinds of created beings. One is called divine and the other demoniac. I have already explained to you at length the divine qualities. Now hear from Me of the demoniac.]
There are two kinds of people in this world, each with their own nature. One has a demonic nature and the other has a ‘deva’ nature— like demigods. Those who are good natured are called sattvika. And those who have rajasika or tamasika natures, they are called demonic.
It is concluded that those who are Lord Vishnu’s devotees, have sattva-guna. And those who are opposed to the Lord have tamasika or rajasika-guna. Devatas have a sattvika nature; they perform good deeds and do pious activities. And what is asura-bhava? Those who are indulging in kama and krodha, giving pain and torturing others or stealing from others— this is all asura-bhava and it is tamasika.
Someone’s nature defines how they eat, how they behave and how they generally go around. Those who are sattvika follow a restrictive way of living. Whereas, tamasika and rajasika people consume meat, alcohol, garlic and onions— all of these things are tamasic, and when consumed, make us tamasic also. This is why we should not eat garlic, onions, meat or alcohol. Demons normally consume alcohol, and in this world, we see many doing the same. All of these acts are tamasic and demonic and only serve to increase lust and anger. And the more anger and lust present, the more destruction there will be. For example, when a man is drunk, he comes home and fights with his family, perhaps he even beats his own wife or children.
This is why in Bhagavad-Gita, the Lord says, “You should have sattva-guna, you should have those qualities.” If we don’t have good habits, if we don’t maintain a good nature, then we cannot properly worship the Lord. We cannot perform archana to Thakuraji if we are drunk or eating meat. If someone is drunk, how can they perform archana to Thakuraji? They will just fall unconscious out of intoxication. This is why our shastras instruct us to be in sattvika moods. We must try to get rid of our tamasic and rajasic moods.
Who is the guru of the demons and who is the guru of the demigods? Shukracharya is the guru of the demons and Brihaspati is the guru of the demigods. You see, one gets a guru based on their own nature. If someone has deva-bhava, they will get a bona fide guru. And if someone has a demonic nature, they will not get a bona fide guru.
Sometimes we see that if we have less nishtha for guru, demons may come and attack us. We should also never offend our guru in any way. At times, when Indra or other demigods are not following their guru properly, the demons become more powerful. Then, the demigods become attacked more easily— usually resulting in the demons defeating them. This occurs only when they do not have strong faith in guru. And this has been going on since forever, since the beginning of time— and will continue for eternity.
Try to understand that the father of asuras and devatas is the same personality, Kashyapa. However, their mothers are different. Hence, Kashyapa had two wives, Diti and Aditi. Diti's sons became asuras, and Aditi’s became demigods. Actually, this is how one’s nature is defined. In Gurudeva’s Bhajana-rahasya, it is explained that the mother’s nature is transferred into the son, and the father’s nature is transferred into the daughter. This is how nature operates and it has been so since the beginning. That is why we see all of Yashoda-maiya’s qualities in Krishna. And we also notice that the nature of Aditi is present in demigods, and the nature of Diti is present in demons. Thus, since the beginning of time, they have been fighting with each other.
I’ll tell you a story from the Puranas. Once, men, demons and demigods approached Brahmaji and complained, “Oh father, you created all three of us.” Brahmaji created humans, he created the demigods and he created the demons. Since he is the one who has created everything, they said, “You have given everything to the demigods, you gave them the heavens. You gave men the earth. But what did you give the demons? Nothing. You’ve given nothing. We are your three sons and we are like brothers. You gave the heavenly planets to the demigods, you gave the mundane planets to the men. However, you have given the demons nothing.” This is actually why demons sometimes attack mundane planets, and even the heavenly planets. So, they asked Brahma, “You gave such high planets to the demigods; all of the heavenly planets. But, you gave nothing to demons. Why? And, you gave the mundane planets to the humans. Why?” Brahmaji answered, “Look, this is not my fault. What you get, comes according to your karma. I don’t give— it's all according to your karma. You get as per your nature, as per your behavior.” After hearing this, the demons began saying, “Oh, we don’t understand this. How can this be?”
Then Brahma replied, “Okay, let’s do this. Tomorrow, I will call all three of you. First, I will call the demons for a feast.” So, the next day, they began distributing plates to the demons and offering them a place to sit. However, Brahmaji gave one condition, “Look, you can all stay here for prasada. But, I have a rule when you take prasada. When you take prasada with your hand, do not bend your wrist or elbow. Your arm has to remain straight.” Except, if you are going to eat something, you cannot keep your hand straight. You have to move your wrist and elbow to allow the food to enter your mouth.
So, the demons replied, “How is that possible? How can we eat without bending our arms? Without any movement?” However, the demons did not care and just started eating. They didn’t care about who ate or who didn’t eat— the nature of demons is like that of an animal. An animal does not have these cares— when they have to eat, they have to eat.
Afterwards, when the demigods were called for their feast, they were given the same situation, “There is one condition, you cannot bend your hand, your wrist and your elbow— you cannot move them, they must stay straight.” Now the demigods began thinking, “How will we do this?” So, they started to somehow pop the food directly off their plate into their mouths.
Now, the humans were told the same thing. And men also have intelligence, so they said, “Okay, we will sit here and we will not bend our arms. We will just make sure we are sitting in a line, with another line directly across from us, so we can feed each other.” This is why men are intelligent. Because they believe, “I will have it and you will also have it.” Since humans are clever, they have intelligence. This is why even demigods request, “Give us birth as humans, because humans have intelligence.” Even demigods sometimes pray to Brahma, “Give us intelligence. Make us human, so we can have intelligence.”
Nowadays, we see that asuras possess humans. We can see how men are changing now. It is not the nature of man to steal. Rather, the nature of a man is to have and also to offer. If one person is eating two rotis, it is their duty to offer the other to someone else. However, this is not how asuras are.
Thus, demons and demigods have been fighting since the beginning of time as they are sons of the same father but with two different mothers. And Bali Maharaja, is the son of Diti. The story of Bali Maharaja is very beautiful. Bali Maharaja was born in a family of the asuras. But even though he was born in an asura family, he had a good nature. Some people in this world are mean and some are nice— there are exceptions everywhere. Some humans are good and some humans are bad. Even some demigods are not very pure and can also not be very nice. There are stories illustrating this from Bhagavatam about Indra and Chandra. So, it is not that all devatas are super nice; there are some bad devatas also. And similarly, there are good humans and bad humans. This also occurs with asuras— there are bad asuras and good asuras. For example, there is Prahlada Maharaja, who is from an asura family. He was such a great devotee! Actually, it doesn’t matter where you are born. A person gets their identity from their nature and their behavior. It does not matter where you were born. What matters is what your higher nature is.
That is why I am saying this— even Bali Maharaja took birth in an asura family, just like Prahlada Maharaja. And who is the son of Prahlada? Prahlada’s son is Virochana, and Virochana’s son is Bali. There is a common saying which states: like father, like son. However, that does not always apply. For example, Hiranyakashipu was not a devotee, but his son Prahladaji was. And Prahlada’s son was Virochana, and Virochana’s son was Bali Maharaja. Thus, Bali Maharaja received the nature of both his father and grandfather. We are now going to briefly discuss about Bali Maharaja.
He was a great personality, the king of all heavenly, mundane and lower planets. And he had a sattvika nature, and would perform fire sacrifices everyday. Whoever would attend the fire sacrifice would receive a donation from him. One day, Lord Vamanadeva thought, “Now, this is a good chance to take all of the kingdoms from Bali Maharaja.” So, Vamanadeva disguised Himself as a very small child, Vamana. Vamana means ‘dwarf’. There is actually a beautiful description of how Lord Vamanadeva walked with an umbrella. He was so short, as He walked, it was hard to see if there was anyone under the umbrella— it appeared as if the umbrella was simply walking on its own.
Then, Vamanadeva came to Bali Maharaja and asked, “Please give Me some donation. I am the son of a brahmana and I am a brahmana myself. I don’t need anything. Just let me measure three steps of land.” Bali Maharaja started laughing, “Haha. Your brain is as small as You are. Who comes to a king and asks for a pumpkin from him?” You see, the cheapest vegetable is a pumpkin. Maybe in Western countries they are expensive, but in India, they are only around twenty rupees.
Bali Maharaja continued, “Ask for a village. You are a brahmana. I will give you a village. Ask for a city.” And how did Lord Vamanadeva reply? He was only asking for three steps of land. His feet are so tiny, one or two inches maximum. Which is the reason why Bali Maharaja started laughing. In response, Vamanadeva said, “It’s ok, I will measure the land using My feet.”
How should one offer a donation? First, he has to purify himself, perform some achamana and promise three times, “I will give, I will give, I will give.” So, when Bali Maharaja was going to do achamana, Shukracharya realised that the boy was not an ordinary child. Rather, He was Lord Vishnu, who simply disguised Himself as a dwarf and now was going to take everything from the king. For this reason, Shukracharya told Bali, “This little child is Vishnu Himself. Do not give Him anything.”
Bali Maharaja answered, “Gurudeva, today is my very auspicious day. The owner of everything has come here to ask me. I am so lucky that He has come to me! What is wrong when the Lord Himself asks for something?” Bali Maharaja tried to explain this to his guru Shukracharya, “Gurudeva, Bhagavan is the owner of everything. He is the one who created all brahmandas, innumerable universes. It is my great pleasure to give Him anything.” Shukracharya foolishly replied, “If you give Him everything, who will give dakshina to me?” “Gurudeva, I am so sorry. I am going to give to Bhagavan whatever He asks from me,” answered Bali Maharaja. Shukracharya thought, “Bali does not understand. I’ll do whatever I can to stop this.” Meanwhile, Vamanadeva urged Bali, “Come on, quickly!”
Then, Bali Maharaja was going to use a pot full of holy water for achamana. But, what did Shukracharya do? He assumed the form of a fish and entered the pot so the water could not come out of it. Vamanadeva immediately understood what was going on and said, “Okay, if the water is stuck in the pot, we can just poke it with a blade of grass.” And after they poked the blade of grass into the pot, Shukracharya’s eye began to bleed and he lost this eye. Finally, Bali Maharaja performed his achamana.
There is one saying which states that a guru is not a guru if he cannot give real benefits to his disciple. Those parents are not parents who cannot turn their children into devotees. Those friends are not friends who cannot give devotion to their friends. That wife is not a wife who cannot inspire her husband towards bhagavad-bhakti. And that husband is not a husband who cannot encourage his wife to perform bhagavata-seva. If this is the case, you should abandon them. This is a very bitter instruction given by our shastras. What I am saying is that Shukracharya was not a bona fide guru, and one should always give up that kind of guru.
Bolo Vrindavana Bihari Lala ki jaya!
Jaya Jaya Sri Radhe!
Date: 3 September 2017 Location: India
Transcriber: Sanatana dasa (USA) Editor: Sanatana dasa (USA) Integrity check: Divya-premamayi dasi (Slovakia) Proofreader: Chandrika dasi (UK) Image: Navina-krishna dasa (Holland)
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