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Srimate SrivanStakopa Sri Vedanta Desika Yatindra Mahadesikayanama:

The Devious Dwarf

The Lord, in His infinite mercy and out of an ardent desire to emancipate errant mortals, comes down often to the earth from His lofty residence at Sri Vaikunttam. Such descents of the Lord into the mundane world are known as Avataaras. Though such Avataaras are innumerable, the popular ones are thirty-odd in number, says Swami Desikan—"Muppatthu Chilvaanam". Agamas enumerate a few more. Among these, ten are most popular, known collectively as Dasaavataaras. Even among these, only two have the privilege of being frequently adulated by Vedas: the Varaahaavataaram and the Trivikrama Avataaram. And between these two, it is Trivikrama who is eulogized by Sri Andal as "Utthaman". This is not to belittle the Varaaha Avataaram, but somehow, when you consider the matter, it is the Colossus Trivikrama, who measured the entire worlds above and below with just two steps of His, who captures our imagination and hearts. However, it is not with Trivikrama per se that we are concerned with in this article, but His forerunner Vaamana, the juvenile dwarf who later burgeoned into the titan Trivikrama.

The story of the Vaamanavataara is one with which every one is familiar. Briefly, it relates to the glorious act of the Lord in seeking and obtaining from Emperor Mahabali just three feet of land, measured with the tiny footsteps of the Vamana (dwarf) Brahmachaari and later growing into a colossus whose head and shoulders shot through the various worlds above and whose giant tiruvadi measured all the universes with a single step and all the higher worlds above with another, leaving no place for the third step, which was ultimately placed upon the Emperor's head, pushing him down to the worlds below, where he would be no threat to Indra, from whom he had earlier captured the three worlds.

We are concerned in this piece with an interesting phenomenon.

While Trivikrama is adulated by Andal as "Ongi Ulagalanda Utthaman", His precursor, Vamana, attracts a somewhat less complimentary reference from Azhwars—some of the less- than- flattering epithets flung by Azhwars at Vamana are—"Vanja Kural" (the deceitful dwarf), "Maaya Kural", etc. Even Acharyas call Vamana devious—"Kapata Vaamanataam upeta" says Swami Desikan.

Why should Vaamana attract such uncomplimentary references, that too from Azhwars who normally wax eloquent in praise of the Lord? The reasons are perhaps not far to seek.

1.      1. The Lord is said to be a colossus, with innumerable eyes, ears, hands and feet, ("Sahasra seershaa Purusha:")towering over the entire universes, which form just a small part of His giant body—"Paadosya visvaa bhootaani" says the Purusha Sooktam. In this avataara, however, at least initially, he compressed His cosmic form considerably, to take on the dimensions of a mere three-foot tall young lad, practically a dwarf. When a giant takes on the form of a dwarf, is it not deviousness and deceit?

2.      2. Emperuman is happily married to Sri and Bhoo Devis, who form His inseparable Consorts. Sri Mahalakshmi has sworn never to be separated from Him for even a nano-second—"akalakillen irayum endru Alarmel Mangai urai maarba!". The Vishnu Puranam too confirms that the Divine Duo is inseparable—"Nityaivesha Jaganmaata Vishno: Sri: anapaayinee". Such being the case, during Vaamanaavataaram, the Lord took on the role of a Brahmachaari, radiating the brilliance of one who has never known female company. Thus a confirmed Grihasttha (Householder), who has not one but three wives (Shree, Bhoo and Neela Devis), posed as an unmarried person. This is another reason for Azhwars calling Vaamana "vanja kural".

3.      3. Though Mahabali was prepared to offer Vaamana unimaginable riches and treasures, all that the Divine Dwarf sought was three feet of land, measured with His own tiny feet. No amount of persuasion from Mahabali to accept something more substantial like ownership of whole nations, could make Vaamana opt for anything else other than just three feet of land. And Mahabali agreed reluctantly, wondering at the foolishness of the boy, who spurned the offer of entire worlds, preferring an insignificant measure of land instead. However, when the actual measurement of the three feet began, the dwarf grew into a colossus spanning the entire Cosmos and naturally, His feet too grew with Him. As a result, against the offer of three feet of land, what the Lord took was the entire worlds above and below, with there being no space for the third foot to land and measure.

When you seek from someone a gift of Rs. 1000 and after obtaining a blank cheque from the donor, fill it in and encash it for Rs. 100,000, is it not deceit?

4.      4. Even though He posed as a Brahmachari, the Lord was unwilling to abandon His Consort of long standing. Remember, it was He who declared in the Ramaavataara that He wouldn't survive even a short while without His eternal love Sita—"Muhoortamapi na jeeveyam, tam vinaa asitekshanaam". Though His current role as a young bachelor strictly prohibited Him from being accompanied by His Lady Love, He still managed to take Her along, resplendent on His broad chest. Neither would He leave Her behind, nor would She consent to being left behind. However, He hid Her with the deerskin robe that He used as an upper cloth—"Krishnaajinena samvrunvan vadhoom vaksha:stthalaalayaam"—so that His married state was effectively camouflaged.

Apart from the immeasurable love She had for Emperuman, was there any other reason which prompted Her to accompany Him even when He posed as a bachelor and for the Lord to hide Her behind a deerskin? 

  1. Yes indeed, She came along also to keep an eye on Him, so to say. Wary of His practice of accumulating Mahishis during each avataara, ("Padinaaraayiravar Devimaar") Sri Mahalakshmi intended to ensure that at least during this avataara, He remained  committed to His existing Consorts and did not add a few fresh ones.
  2. The Lord had another reason for hiding Mahalakshmi behind the deer skin, when confronting Mahabali. Had even Her fleeting glance fallen even for a moment on Mahabali, he would have been blessed with unimaginable and everlasting aishvaryam and it would have been difficult for the Lord to execute His precisely laid plans for relieving Mahabali of all his wealth, power and status and pushing him down to the nether worlds, ensuring that he was no more a competitor to Indra. Hence, to make certain that Mahabali did not receive Lakshmi Kataaksham, the Lord hid Her with krishnaajinam (deerskin).

d.                  A third reason for the Emperuman hiding His lady love behind a deerskin was that He did not want Her to see Him begging Mahabali, an occupation He was totally unused to and one that did not behove Him, as the undisputed ruler of all the worlds. Had She been privy to His plans, Sri Mahalakshmi would have definitely prohibited Him from adopting the demeaning ploy of seeking alms. Being the personification of wealth, prosperity and auspiciousness, She could not very well sit idle and see Her husband beg an ordinary mortal for a mere three feet of land. Thus, in order to avoid being seen begging, the Lord had to perforce hide Tirumagal.

e.      The Lord could not very well expose His deceitful occupation before His wife, who held Him in high regard.

f.        Since the mere sight of Mahalakshmi on His chest would have revealed His indisputable status as the Parabrahmam and given the show away, the Lord had to hide Her, to give the impression that He was an ordinary Brahmachaari. Sri Devi being a swaroopa niroopaka dharmam or an unfailing identification mark for the Paramaatma, He could not allow Her to be seen by Mahabali, who would have known instantly that the alms-seeker was no humble student, but saakshaat Mahavishnu.

New Insights into le affaire Mahabali

As we are aware, Puranas are divided into Saatvic, Raajasic and Taamasic ones and it is only Saatvika Puranas that we normally set store by. Saatvika Puranas contain praises of Emperuman only, to the exclusion of other demi gods, while Raajasic and Taamasic puranas offer liberal doses of unwanted material. Vaamana Puraana is one such, which does not fall under the category of Saatvika Puranas. However, it is worth while looking into, for the additional information it provides regarding the Vaamanaavataram.

We are told by this Puranam that during Mahabali's reign, Devas under the leadership of Indra, were roundly defeated by Mahabali and stripped of all power, position and havirbhaagam (sacrificial offerings). They appealed to Mahavishnu to restore their lost splendor. Mahavishnu promised them that He would be born as a son to Kasyapa and Aditi and would do the needful.

The moment Aditi conceived the divine baby, Asuras began to experience all sorts of bad omens. When Mahabali sought his grand father Prahlada's advice on the evil portents, Prahlada went into a trance and was able to see that the Lord had entered the womb of Aditi. When he told his grandson that the all-powerful Sri Hari was on His way into the world and would eventually ensure Mahabali's fall from power, Mahabali responded by casting aspersions on the Lord's capabilities and swore that the combined power of asuras would be enough to vanquish any destabilization attempt by Mahavishnu. Angered at Mahabali's insult to His beloved Lord, Prahlada shot a curse at his grandson, that he would lose all his glory, wealth, power because of his irreverence towards the Lord. When a repentant Mahabali sought Prahlaada's forgiveness, Prahlada told him to develop devotion to Sri Hari, who would be an infallible savior.

And when Vaamana started for Mahabali's sacrifice-site (Yagya vaatika), the earth shook and reverberated with his footsteps and all sorts of bad omens beset Mahabali, who sought the reason from his guru Shukraacharya. With foresight born of penance, Shukracharya told his disciple that it was the Vaamana Brahmachaari who was on his way and it was his steps that were causing the earth to shake. He also cautioned Mahabali that Vaamana would try to trick him into parting with all his ishwaryam. Hearing this, instead of being dismayed, Mahabali was overjoyed and told Shukracharya that he would welcome Mahavishnu, in whatever form He came. "Till date I have not said No to any seeker of alms, nor shall I begin now, especially since the seeker is none other than the Pramapurusha" vowed Bali, declaring that he would rather sacrifice his life, than deny alms to someone.

Interestingly, the Vaamana purana has no mention about Shukracharya following-up his oral advice with positive action by sitting in the form of a fly in Mahabali's water pot, blocking the nozzle through which water would flow out on to Vaamana's palm, signifying completion of the 'daanam" of three feet of land. The moment the water fell on Vaaman's palm, the dwarf instantly burgeoned into a colossus, says the Purana—

"Paanou tu patite toye Vaamana: abhoot aVaamana:" Everyone knows what followed.

 

The Vaamanaavataram and its immediate sequel, the Trivikramaavataaram, are easily the most dramatic of the Lord's avataaras. They also stand out because there was absolutely no blood shed—(unlike the Nrisihmaavatara, Ramavatara and Krishnavatara, where blood was shed by the gallons and lives lost by the thousands)--the Trivikramaavataaram achieved its goal through peaceful means, though some would say through subterfuge.

Shall we end this piece with Swami Desikan's tribute to Trivikrama?

"Bhikshochitam prakatayan prathama aashramam tvam

Krishnaajinam yavanikaam kritavaan priyaayaa:

Vyaktaakrite: tava sameekshya bhujaantare taam

Tvaam eva Gopa nagareesa! Janaa vidu: tvaam"

Srimate Sri LakshmiNrisimha divya paaduka sevaka SrivanSatakopa Sri Narayana Yatindra mahadesikaya nama:

dasan, sadagopan

 

 

 

 

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