SB 2.7.17–18 – Vamana-dvadasi—Srila Jiva Gosvami’s Appearance Day

Giriraj Swami: Hare Krishna. We welcome you on the auspicious occasion of Vamana-dvadasi, the appearance day of Lord Vamanadeva, and it is also the appearance day of our great acharya Srila Jiva Gosvami. In honor of Vamana-dvadasi, we shall read two verses from Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, which discuss His pastimes. Also on a personal note, I would request the devotees to put on their videos as far as possible, so I can see you, it will be more personal that way.

oṁ namo bhagavate vāsudevāya
oṁ namo bhagavate vāsudevāya
oṁ namo bhagavate vāsudevāya 

We read from Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, Canto Two, Chapter Seven: “Scheduled Incarnations,” Text Seventeen.  

TEXT 17

jyāyān guṇair avarajo ‘py aditeḥ sutānāṁ

lokān vicakrama imān yad athādhiyajñaḥ

kṣmāṁ vāmanena jagṛhe tripada-cchalena

yācñām ṛte pathi caran prabhubhir na cālyaḥ

TRANSLATION

The Lord, although transcendental to all material modes, still surpassed all the qualities of the sons of Aditi, known as the Ādityas. The Lord appeared as the youngest son of Aditi. And because He surpassed all the planets of the universe, He is the Supreme Personality of Godhead. On the pretense of asking for a measurement of three footsteps of land, He took away all the lands of Bali Mahārāja. He asked simply because without begging, no authority can take one’s rightful possession.

PURPORT by Srila Prabhupada

The history of Bali Mahārāja and his charity to Vāmanadeva is described in the Eighth Canto of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam.

COMMENT

In fact, the description of the history of Bali Maharaja and Vamanadeva covers nine Chapters. It’s one of the longest narrations in the whole Bhāgavatam, other than the narrations of Krishna’s pastimes in the Tenth Canto.

PURPORT (continued)

Bali Mahārāja conquered all the planets of the universe by rightful possession. A king can conquer other kings by strength, and such possession is considered to be rightful. So Bali Mahārāja possessed all the lands of the universe, and he happened to be charitably disposed toward the brāhmaṇas.

COMMENT

How did Bali Maharaja develop such power that he could conquer the whole universe? And it was actually due to his service to the brahmans and the blessings of the brahmans. He performed a sacrifice, and out of that sacrifice came a golden chariot with a quiver of infallible arrows, and a flag with a lion. He mounted that chariot, and he went straight to Indraloka, the planet of King Indra, Svargaloka, the heavenly planet, because he considered Indra to be his archenemy. Because there is always, you could say, conflict or competition between the demigods and the demons. And Bali Maharaja was born in a demon family, Daitya.

So he went immediately to Svargaloka to attack, and when Indra saw Bali Maharaja’s approach, in such a fearsome aspect, he was very afraid. He approached his guru, Bṛhaspati, the priest of the demigods, and said, “From the looks of Bali Maharaja, we have no chance to fight him in combat. What should we do?” Bṛhaspati replied, “The time factor is not in your favor now. You will not be able to defeat him.”

They escaped through the back door, so to speak. They had mystic powers, by which they could change their forms, and the demons could not recognize them in their new forms. Indra assumed the form of a bird and he flew away, and Bali Maharaja occupied the heavenly planet Svargaloka. He sat on the throne of King Indra, but his guru Sukracharya advised him, “If you want to remain on the throne of Indra, you have to become more qualified. You can’t just sit there.” So, Bali Maharaja performed a hundred yajñas to reinforce his position as the conqueror of the heavenly planet, who is sitting on the throne of Indra.  

All of this, as Srila Prabhupada says, was rightfully done because among kings, if one king defeats another and takes his territory, it’s considered to have been gained fairly. We’ll continue with the purport.

PURPORT (continued)

So Bali Mahārāja possessed all the lands of the universe, and he happened to be charitably disposed toward the brāhmaṇas.

COMMENT

As I mentioned, it was due to the blessings of the brahmans that he was imbued with such power, that he could conquer the universe.

PURPORT (continued)

The Lord therefore pretended to be a beggar brāhmaṇa, and He asked Bali Mahārāja for a measurement of three footsteps of land.

COMMENT

The Lord, knowing how charitably disposed Bali was to brahmans, He assumed the form of a brahman, a little one, a dwarf brahman. He asked Bali Maharaja for the measurement of three footsteps of land, and Bali Maharaja said to Vamana, “My dear boy, you appear to be very attractive by your features, but you do not seem to be very intelligent. Because I could give you a whole planet, and you are asking for just three paces of land.” Vamanadeva replied, “If I cannot be satisfied with three places of land, I won’t be satisfied by the three worlds.”

This reminded me of Srila Prabhupada’s description of devotees, or in particular, of brahmacharis. They just need three pieces of land to lie down at night, a little prasāda, and a little service, and they are satisfied. So Vamanadeva, the original brahmachari, in the same vein, He said, “If I can’t be satisfied with three paces of land, I wouldn’t be satisfied with the three worlds.”

PURPORT (continued)

The Lord, as the proprietor of everything, could take from Bali Mahārāja all the land he possessed, but he did not do so because Bali Mahārāja possessed all those lands by king’s rights. When Bali Mahārāja was asked by Lord Vāmana for such small charity, Bali Mahārāja’s spiritual master, namely Śukrācārya, objected to this proposal because he knew that Vāmanadeva was Viṣṇu Himself, pretending to be a beggar.

COMMENT

Now, this is also very significant because as stated in the Fifth Canto of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. This is Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, 5.5.18.

TEXT 18

gurur na sa syāt sva-jano na sa syāt
pitā na sa syāj jananī na sā syāt
daivaṁ na tat syān na patiś ca sa syān
na mocayed yaḥ samupeta-mṛtyum

TRANSLATION

One who cannot deliver his dependents from the path of repeated birth and death should never become a spiritual master, a father, a husband, a mother or a worshipable demigod.

COMMENT

Now in his commentary to this verse, Srila Śrīdhara gives examples. The idea is that if you cannot deliver your dependent from the path of repeated birth and death, then you are not a real guru. You are not a real father, you are not a real husband, you are not a real mother, you are not a worthy worshipable personality. Srila Śrīdhara Swami gives examples from Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam of personalities who were in the role of gurus and so on, but who are not real gurus, because they were not acting in such a way as to deliver their dependent from repeated birth and death.

The one example is Bali Maharaja. It’s the duty of the disciple to follow the order of the guru, but when Sukracharya advised or instructed Bali Maharaja not to give the three paces of land to Vamanadeva because He was Vishnu, Bali Maharaja refused the order of his guru. But that was not a fault in Bali Maharaja because Sukracharya was not a real guru, because he was not guiding his disciple in such a way as to become freed from the repetition of birth and death.

PURPORT (continued)

When Bali Mahārāja was asked by Lord Vāmana for such small charity, Bali Mahārāja’s spiritual master, namely Śukrācārya, objected to this proposal because he knew that Vāmanadeva was Viṣṇu Himself, pretending to be a beggar. Bali Mahārāja did not agree to abide by the order of his spiritual master when he understood that the beggar was Viṣṇu Himself, and he at once agreed to give Him in charity the land requested. By this agreement Lord Vāmana covered all the lands of the universe with His first two steps.

COMMENT

With one step He covered the whole upper half of the universe, and with His other step he covered the whole lower half. And then He arrested Bali Maharaja for his inability to fulfill his promise. This is also very wonderful. This is described in Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam in the discussion between Maharaja Parīkṣit and Śukadeva Gosvami. The Supreme Lord, who is the proprietor of the entire existence, acted as a beggar. This is very wonderful, very astonishing to Maharaja Parīkṣit. And then after taking charity from Bali Maharaja, apparently, instead of being grateful, He arrested him. This was all very astonishing to Maharaja Parīkṣit, so in response to his questions, Śukadeva Gosvami narrated the entire history.

PURPORT (continued)

By this agreement Lord Vāmana covered all the lands of the universe with His first two steps and then asked Bali Mahārāja where to place the third step.

COMMENT

But as I mentioned, in the meantime Vamana arrested Bali Maharaja and accused him of not fulfilling his promise, because with the two steps he’d already given away everything he possessed. So, Vamanadeva accused him of not fulfilling his promise.

PURPORT (continued)

By this agreement Lord Vāmana covered all the lands of the universe with His first two steps and then asked Bali Mahārāja where to place the third step. Bali Mahārāja was very glad to receive the Lord’s remaining step upon his head, and thus Bali Mahārāja, instead of losing everything he possessed, was blessed by the Lord’s becoming his constant companion and doorman. So, by giving everything to the cause of the Lord, one does not lose anything, but he gains everything that he could never otherwise expect.

COMMENT

In the Bhagavad-gītā Krishna says ye yathā māṁ prapadyante, “As one surrenders to Him, Krishna reciprocates accordingly.” So Bali Maharaja gave everything he possessed including himself to Krishna, and Krishna reciprocated by giving him his own planet, better than any of the other ordinary planets, and He gave Himself and became Bali Maharaja’s gatekeeper, servant, and constant companion.

This is the incredible mercy of the Lord. By reading about the Lord’s loving dealings with His devotees, we should become attracted and we should have the feeling. I also want to have a loving relationship with the Lord. He is so kind and magnanimous, [and] He gives Himself to His devotees.

There is a very nice verse in the Daśāvatāra-stotra. Srila Jayadeva Gosvami in his Daśāvatāra-stotra sings.

(5) chalayasi vikramāne baliṁ adbhuta-vāmana pāda-nakhā-nira-janita-jana-pāvana keśava dhṛta-vāmana-rūpa jaya jagadīśa hare

TRANSLATION

O Kesava! O Lord of the universe! O Lord Hari, who have assumed the form of a dwarf-brahman! All glories to You! O wonderful dwarf, by Your massive steps You deceive King Bali, and by the Ganges water that has emanated from the nails of Your lotus feet, You deliver all living beings within this world.

COMMENT

So, Bali Maharaja gave everything, including himself, to the Lord. And the Lord gave everything to Bali Maharaja, including Himself. As mentioned in that beautiful verse by Jayadeva Gosvami, When Vamanadeva took His first step and He covered the whole upper portion of the universe, He poked a hole in the covering of the universe, and through that hole came the Ganges, the water of the Ganges. That was the beginning of how the Ganges came to earth, the sacred Ganges.  

Now this, “By giving everything to the cause of the Lord, one does not lose anything, but he gains everything that he could never otherwise expect.” Another example of this was when Lord Krishna was playing as a baby, and a fruit vendor came to His home, the home of His parents, Nanda Maharaja and Yasoda-mayi. She had her fruits, which she was offering for sale, and in those days, exchange was done by barter. Krishna went inside the house to get some rice to barter for the fruits, but it’s explained in the Kṛṣṇa book that because His hands were very small, and He wasn’t practiced to holding them tightly closed, almost all the rice fell out before He reached the fruit vendor.

But she was so attracted by Krishna’s beauty that, in exchange for those few grains of rice, she filled up Krishna’s arms with fruit. Then when she looked at her fruit basket, she saw that in place of the fruit, where the fruit had been, it was filled with valuable jewels and gems. So, the idea is that one who gives to Krishna is not the loser, but is the gainer by many times.

I used to tell that story when I was collecting for the Juhu temple, and His Holiness Radhanath Swami commented that the whole Juhu temple was built on the basis of that story. But that is the fact that Srila Prabhupada says, “By giving everything to the cause of the Lord, one does not lose anything, but he gains everything that he could never otherwise expect. There is one more verse in this section of the Bhāgavatam related to this pastime, Text Eighteen. Let the devotees see the verse. This is Text Eighteen.

TEXT 18

nārtho baler ayam urukrama-pāda-śaucam

āpaḥ śikhā-dhṛtavato vibudhādhipatyam

yo vai pratiśrutam ṛte na cikīrṣad anyad

ātmānam aṅga manasā haraye ‘bhimene

TRANSLATION

Bali Mahārāja, who put on his head the water washed from the lotus feet of the Lord, did not think of anything besides his promise, in spite of being forbidden by his spiritual master. The king dedicated his own personal body to fulfill the measurement of the Lord’s third step. For such a personality, even the kingdom of heaven, which he conquered by his strength, was of no value.

PURPORT by Srila Prabhupada

Bali Mahārāja, by gaining the transcendental favor of the Lord in exchange for his great material sacrifice, was able to have a place in Vaikuṇṭhaloka with equal or greater facilities of eternal enjoyment; therefore he was not at all the loser by sacrificing the kingdom of heaven, which he had possessed by his material strength.

COMMENT

Which we discussed earlier.

PURPORT (continued)

In other words, when the Lord snatches away one’s hard-earned material possessions and favors one with His personal transcendental service for eternal life, bliss and knowledge, such taking away by the Lord should be considered a special favor upon such a pure devotee.

Material possessions, however alluring they may be, cannot be permanent possessions. Therefore one has to voluntarily give up such possessions, or one has to leave such possessions at the time of quitting this material body.

COMMENT

Yes, in the Bhagavad-gītā says mṛtyuḥ sarva-haraś cāham that He appears as death and takes away everything. So instead of having our material possessions taken away at the time of death, we should rather voluntarily surrender them to the service of the Lord and get eternal benefits.

PURPORT (continued)

The sane man knows that all material possessions are temporary and that the best use of such possessions is to engage them in the service of the Lord so that the Lord may be pleased with him and award him a permanent place in His paraṁ dhāma.

In the Bhagavad-gītā (15.5–6) the paraṁ dhāma of the Lord is described as follows:

nirmāna-mohā jita-saṅga-doṣā
adhyātma-nityā vinivṛtta-kāmāḥ
dvandvair vimuktāḥ sukha-duḥkha-saṁjñair
gacchanty amūḍhāḥ padam avyayaṁ tat

na tad bhāsayate sūryo
na śaśāṅko na pāvakaḥ
yad gatvā na nivartante
tad dhāma paramaṁ mama

One who possesses more in this material world, in the shape of houses, land, children, society, friendship and wealth, possesses these things only for the time being. One cannot possess all this illusory paraphernalia, created by māyā, permanently. Such a possessor is more illusioned in the matter of his self-realization; therefore one should possess less or nothing, so that one may be free from artificial prestige. We are contaminated in the material world by association with the three modes of material nature. Therefore, the more one spiritually advances by devotional service to the Lord, in exchange for his temporary possessions, the more one is freed from the attachment of material illusion.

COMMENT

I remember the first time I came to the Boston temple. I had been looking for a guru, and I saw Srila Prabhupada for the first time when he gave a lecture at my university, at Brandeis University, outside Boston. Then the next night I went to the temple, and at the temple, there was another new person who had just come. At some stage, after the lecture and everything, at the end of the program, this young man took out his wallet and he said, “You see this? This is actually all stolen property. This is Krishna’s property, and we should return it to Krishna as soon as possible.” Took out all this money and gave it to the temple, and in his own way, he had realized what Srila Prabhupada is saying in this verse.

PURPORT (continued)

The more one spiritually advances by devotional service to the Lord, in exchange for his temporary possessions, the more one is freed from the attachment of material illusion. To achieve this stage of life one must be firmly convinced about spiritual existence and its permanent effects. To know exactly the permanency of spiritual existence, one must voluntarily practice possessing less or only the minimum to maintain one’s material existence without difficulty. One should not create artificial needs. That will help one be satisfied with the minimum. Artificial needs of life are activities of the senses. The modern advancement of civilization is based on these activities of the senses, or, in other words, it is a civilization of sense gratification. Perfect civilization is the civilization of ātmā, or the soul proper. The civilized man of sense gratification is on an equal level with animals because animals cannot go beyond the activities of the senses. Above the senses is the mind. The civilization of mental speculation is also not the perfect stage of life because above the mind is the intelligence, and the Bhagavad-gītā gives us information of the intellectual civilization. The Vedic literatures give different directions for the human civilization, including the civilization of the senses, of the mind, of the intelligence, and of the soul proper. The Bhagavad-gītā primarily deals with the intelligence of man, leading one to the progressive path of civilization of the spirit soul. And Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam is the complete human civilization dealing with the subject matter of the soul proper.

COMMENT

Srila Prabhupada gives the example, very appropriate example, that if one is performing a mathematical calculation, and if he makes a mistake in the first step, then even if he performs all the other steps properly, he may end up getting further and further away from the actual result because he made a mistake in the first step. In the same way, if we make a mistake in the first step and identify with the body, instead of understanding that we are the soul, the ātmā, and if we do everything perfectly on the basis of the body, we will end up being further and further away from the actual happiness that we desire because we made a mistake in the first step.

Therefore, the knowledge of the Bhagavad-gītā, beginning with the very first instruction, that we are not the body, but we are the soul within the body, is absolutely necessary if people want to achieve real happiness, which we all do.

PURPORT (continued)

As soon as a man is raised to the status of the civilization of the soul, he is fit to be promoted to the kingdom of God, which is described in the Bhagavad-gītā as per the above verses.

The primary information of the kingdom of God informs us that there is no need of sun, moon or electricity, which are all necessary in this material world of darkness. And the secondary information of the kingdom of God explains that anyone able to reach that kingdom by adoption of the civilization of the soul proper, or, in other words, by the method of bhakti-yoga, attains the highest perfection of life. One is then situated in the permanent existence of the soul, with full knowledge of transcendental loving service for the Lord. Bali Mahārāja accepted this civilization of the soul in exchange for his great material possessions and thus became fit for promotion to the kingdom of God.

COMMENT

Bali is an example for us how by sacrificing one’s material possessions, including one’s own physical body, one can get the Lord and eternal life with the Lord.

PURPORT (continued)

Bali Mahārāja accepted this civilization of the soul in exchange for his great material possessions and thus became fit for promotion to the kingdom of God.

COMMENT

Thus he is one of our mahājanas, one of our exemplars.

PURPORT (continued)

The kingdom of heaven, which he achieved by dint of his material power, was considered most insignificant in comparison with the kingdom of God.

Those who have attained the comforts of a material civilization made for sense gratification should try to attain the kingdom of God by following in the footsteps of Bali Mahārāja, who exchanged his acquired material strength, adopting the process of bhakti-yoga as recommended in the Bhagavad-gītā and further explained in the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam.

COMMENT

Today is a very auspicious day. We can benefit by hearing the pastimes of Vamanadeva and Bali Maharaja and try to learn from the example of Bali Maharaja, how we can please the Lord by sacrificing everything, our material possessions, our bodies, and our very selves for His service. By giving ourselves fully to the Lord, ye yathā māṁ prapadyante, the Lord will give Himself fully to us. What greater gain can we achieve than having the Lord?

Of course, in this age of Kali, kali-kāle nāma-rūpe kṛṣṇa-avatāra, in the age of Kali the holy name of Krishna is the incarnation of Krishna. So if we chant the holy name offenselessly, we can also realize the presence of the Lord in the form of transcendental sound. As far as possible, we should do these two things; read, hear, recite Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, and chant the holy names; Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna, Hare Hare / Hare Rama, Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare, and be happy.

Are there any questions or comments? I guess, if you have any questions or comments, you can raise your hand. Yes, Sarvabhauma Prabhu, please unmute yourself.

Sarvabhauma dasa: Yes Maharaja. Bali Maharaja was serving; in the beginning he was serving Sukracharya. You said that he got some strength from serving the brahmans. Even though his spiritual master wasn’t perfect, did he get any benefit from serving Sukracharya until the last situation?

Giriraj Swami: Well, that’s a good question. Bali Maharaja may have got some material benefit from following Sukracharya, and again, by the blessing of the brahmans and Sukracharya, he was able to become so powerful that he could conquer the heavenly planets. But that was very temporary because, in the end, he surrendered everything to the Lord, and he got much more benefit as a result of his surrender, than he got, which involved disobeying his spiritual master, than he got from following his spiritual master.

I mean, in a way, even we have our material gurus to teach us how to make money and things like that. I mean, in a way, you could say Bali Maharaja got some benefit from following Sukracharya, but it was all material, and in the end it was all taken away by Vamanadeva, which was the best thing that could have ever happened to Bali Maharaja.

Sarvabhauma dasa: Thank you.

Giriraj Swami: Any other questions or comments?

Varsha Anurag: Hare Krishna Maharaja.

Giriraj Swami: Hare Krishna Varsha Anurag.

Varsha Anurag: You say the Lord made the hole to the planet, and river Ganges came and water came, but it’s a hole in an upper planet, or He made the hole in a lower planet? Just upper planet, right?

Giriraj Swami: Yeah, it was the hole in the covering of the universe.

Varsha Anurag: So all the universe, the whole universe, all the planets, you make through the whole with all different planets?

Giriraj Swami: Yeah, within the universe, there are many planets but they are all within the universe. Then there is a covering to the universe, and outside of that covering is the Viraja River, which is spiritual, it has spiritual water. When Vamanadeva took His first step, He expanded Himself into a huge form, so with the tip of the toe of His first step, He poked a hole in the covering of the universe, and that spiritual water entered the universe and became the Ganges River.

Varsha Anurag: Okay, Hare Krishna, thank you Maharaja.

Giriraj Swami: All right, if there is nothing else, we can end now by offering Vaishnava praṇāma.

Let us offer our respectful obeisances unto all the Vaishnava devotees of the Lord, who are just like desire trees and can fulfill the desires of everyone and are full of compassion for the fallen conditioned souls.

vāñchā-kalpa-tarubhyaś ca

kṛpā-sindhubhya eva ca

patitānāṁ pāvanebhyo

vaiṣṇavebhyo namo namaḥ

But actually, before we leave, we should ask our dear Sri Raga-Bhatta Prabhuji if he has any announcements. He is the official announcer of ISKCON Houston.

Sri Raga-Bhatta dasa: Thank you Maharaja, you are always so kind and merciful.