Bali: Epic Characters of Puranas

By T.N. Padmavati

Bali, the king of Asuras, was Bhakta Prahlada's grandson and Virochana's son. Devendra took away all his wealth and killed him but Shukracharya brought him back to life with the help of Sanjeevani Vidya. Thus, Bali became Sukracharya's disciple and offered all his wealth to his preceptor. Bali wanted to make heaven a part of his kingdom and hence, performed a yaga and entered Amaravathi, Devendra's capital. All the devas left swargaloka on the advice of Brihaspathi as none could face the valour of Bali. Bali now ruled over his vast kingdom of the three worlds. The devas approached Lord Vishnu, who was born as Vamana, and asked him to bring round Bali and return to them all that they had lost. Vamana came to Bali as a young brahmin and impressed the king with his knowledge so much that Bali offered him all that he had. Vamana, who had gone there with a purpose, declined the offer saying that he was interested in establishing a yagashala in memory of his preceptor for which he needed land measuring just three footsteps. Sukracharya warned the king not to give the young Brahmin anything as he was none other than Lord Vishnu in disguise. Instead of taking his preceptor's advice, Bali spoke at length about how he had taken yagnadeeksha which meant that he couldn't refuse anything to someone who had asked for something. Thus Vamana took his famous three steps and in an instant, deprived Bali of all that he had. Bali's followers were so enraged that they waged a bloody battle in which thousands were killed. Bali, on the other hand, advised them to stop fighting and become good. Only then could they hope to get back all that they had lost. The Lord was impressed and made Bali the king of the nether world. Bali thus stood tall by not buckling down to any pressure, be it giving up truth, listening to others' advice or even to his preceptor's curse or advice.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Bharatha Samskruthi Prakashana
• Release date: May 24, 2019
• ISBN: 9789389020502

Book preview

EPIC CHARACTERS OF PURĀNAS

Bali

Written by

T.N. Padmavati

Translated by

Prof. G. S. Mudambadithaya

© Bharatha Samskruthi Prakashana, Bengaluru. All rights reserved.

Published by:

Bharatha Samskruthi Prakashana

C/o. Bharatha Darshana,

163, Manjunatha Road, 2nd Block,

Thyagarajanagar, Bangalure 560 028,

Ph: [phone], [phone]

bharathasamskruthi.com

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ll Sri Ranga Sadguruve Namah ll

We joyfully invoke the blessings of the Lord, Purana Purusha to the sacred fourth blossom of Sri Bharatha Darsana and Bharatha Samskruthi Prakashana.

The two pioneer publishing organizations have so far brought out the Epic Characters of the Ramayana and the Mahabharatha and the ten Great Maharshis the makers our immortal culture, in the form of ten small books each with the sole object of introducing our young boys and girls to veritable storehouse of Indian cultural heritage and by doing so the publishers have endeared themselves to the reading public. Now they have taken up the laudable task of introducing great characters from another branch of literature relating to our culture, called the Puranas.

A purana is a form of literature which delineates vedic principles in the form of history, stories, examples, plays and images, in a simple but interesting style so that even common men can understand and enjoy them. The principles are not presented in a mandatory form, but in a simple form just like the advice given by a friend and that is why it is called Mithrasammitha. Great men are of the opinion that a thorough knowledge of the Puranas is essential to explain the meaning of the Vedas. Ithihasa puranabhyam. Vedam samupa Brhmayeth ll

The puranic literature besides telling us about the original creation, the later subsidiary creation, family history, it also describes the evolution of our great culture.

We get references to puranas in the vedas. We also see parts of some of these puranas in the Ramayana and the Mahabharatha.