Slokam 2

The unconditional offer makes the Paramathma feel kindly disposed towards Bali.  However, the offer does carry an implicit pride on the part of Bali,  that he owns everything.  Ideally the so called possessions are only the property of the Paramathma to begin with.  Bali only forcefully gained control of  property that  did not belong to him at all.  He then made the offer to the Paramathma of what does not belong to him in the first place.  There is an implied false pride in this offer, which the Paramathma wanted him to be rid of.  The Paramathma’s actions should never be construed as a punishment.  They are always lessons that are delivered for our improvement and evolution.

The lessons of life must always be viewed in the correct perspective.

The Paramathma does not ask for everything.  If he had, and he could have,  Bali would have had no option except to give.  The offer had been  made in front of distinguished witnesses and Bali could not have backed out.  If the Paramathma had asked for everything,  the image of Vamana as an unattached being would have taken a big setback. The setback would have been much more than the value of possession.  However,  Bali still could not be allowed to walk away by giving a small gift, the giving of which  would have cleansed him of all his papam,  after which he would have continued with his “conquests”.

Was Bali was playing a strategic game?  Was he  offering everything in the hope that Vamana would not accept?  

Although he claimed title to the three worlds, in reality,  he,  as a  human being, is not in possession of his own body and mind. Once life departs, so do all of the material “possessions”.  Can such a person give anything?  The answer is that he cannot because nothing belongs to him. His ego however tells him that because he defeated the present “owners” of the property, he steps in as the new owner.  The three worlds were not paid for by Bali.  He engaged his forces in battles of destruction and kept the reward for himself. 

His offer the Paramathma,  is the fruit of his destructive effort.  Would a realized soul ever accept such an offer. Is the underlying property not tinged by adharma, and so is unfit for a sage?

Essentially,  Bali was performing his natural deeds of conquest as an asura and then wiping the papam clean by performing the necessary spiritual observances.  So Bali assumes that all his papam evaporates and the now cleansed fruit of action is entirely his.

All of us experience this asuric nature within us day in and day out like clock work.  He believes in his ownership.  If Bali made the offer of the three worlds with this belief,  then it is a genuine offer.

The genuineness and lavishness of the offer invoked the compassion of the Paramathma,  who was already the owner of the three world and beyond. 

The Paramathma approaches us mortals only with a view to elevate us to higher planes of existence.  Bali had to be rid of the illusory ego behind which his true self was  hiding.

The Paramathma, in the form of Vamana,  asks for land only to the extent that he can cover with three steps.  The request,  is very modest and is in keeping with his stature as the ultimate representation of a realized being that has transcended the material world. 

Sri Bhattadri adds a “tongue in cheek” comment about the consequences if the Paramathma had requested all the three worlds.

May we learn from the slokan to not segment ourselves into practicing papam or adharma and seeking the mitigation of the impact of such deeds from spiritual pooja.