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Raajaa Bali

Kashyap and Diti had two sons - Hiranyakashyap and Hiranyaaksh. Hiranyakashyap had four sons, among them the youngest was Prahlaad for whom Vishnu took Avataar of Narsinh and killed Hirayakashyap. Prahlaad Jee's son was Virochan. And Virochan's son was Raajaa Bali. Bali is famous for giving alms, especially to Braahman. Once he had won Tri-Lok, so Indra was very sad because he had to move out of Swarg Lok.

Devtaa's mother Aditi was also very sad on her children's plight. She did a Vrat and when Bhagavaan gave her Darshan, she asked Him to take care of her children. At this Shree Hari took Avataar in Kashyap and Aditi's house as their son as Upendra (people called Him Vaaman also since He was very small in size - only 52 fingers of height that is why He was called Vaaman - Baaman or Baavan is the word for 52 in Hindi). He went to Bali's Yagya Shaalaa and asked for three feet land. Bali promised Him to give this much land, knowingly fully well that He was not a Braahman, but He was Shree Hari Himself. 

His Guru Shukraachaarya also warned him not to make promise for anything to give it to Him because in this way He will take his everything, but Bali could not have refused to give anything which he had already promised. So he said to his Guru - "If he is a Braahman, then I am not losing anything just by giving Him three feet land; and if He is Vishnu then I am the greatest alms-giver in Tri-Lok because today Bhagavaan who gives to everybody, Himself is asking something from me, and I am giving it to Him. Who else can be greater fortunate than me." So he made the Sankalp of three feet land. 

Now that Braahman boy was not the Braahman boy in reality, He was Vishnu, so He expanded His body. In one foot He measured Prithvi, in second foot He measured Swarg Lok, and His body covered the Antariksh Lok. Now He wanted His third foot land. so He asked Bali as where He should measure it? Raajaa Bali was ready for this. He bent his head and said, "Prabhu, You have created everything, you destroy everything. You have taken everything from me, now you may put your foot on my head." Bhagavaan got very pleased with his Bhakti and gave him Sutal Lok to live. He promised him not to kill any of his descendent and to guard his city as his guard. Raajaa Bali will be Indra in 8th Manvantar.

He had one daughter named Ratnmaalaa. When she saw Vaaman Bhagavaan in her father's Yagya Shaalaa, she wished to have a son like Him and feed him through her breasts. But when she saw His Viraat Swaroop, she wished "if I had a son like this I would have given Him poison through my breastfeed." Later in Dwaapar Yug, she was born as Pootanaa. Bhagavaan fulfilled her both wishes, she breastfed to Bhagavaan and gave poison also to Him through breastfeed. Thus Ratnmaalaa got Bhagavaan's mother status after her death.

 

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Created by Sushma Gupta on 3/9/02
Contact:  sushmajee@yahoo.com
Updated on 06/09/11