The fifth of ten
avatars of Lord Vishnu was this Vamana,
Who took the
appearance of a short statured, cute Brahmana.
Mahabali, an
asur in the lineage of Hiranyakasip and though very just and powerful,
Was envied by
the Devas, because he had all the worlds including theirs, to rule.
Knowing the
difficulty of overcoming the virtuous Mahabali in any direct war,
To recover the
Devas’s world, Lord Vishnu decided to take the Vamana Avatar.
Thus the Lord
adopted a clever little ploy
And appeared in
front of Mahabali as a Brahmin boy.
Mahabali,conducting
a yajna, was giving, whatever asked, to
brahmins in charity,
Dimunitive
Vamana asking only for land equaling his three steps, it hurt his vanity.
He saw Vamana
cover the entire earth in the first, the sky and beyond in the second step,
Having nothing
else to offer, Mahabali humbly offered his head for the third step.
Though the Lord
sent Mahabali to the regions down under by pressing down,
Seeing his
goodness, he made the asur king to sit on the underworld throne.