Bali, the king of asuras, has a dream, that of becoming the ruler of all three worlds—the earth, the nether regions and the heavens. He had even proved that he is capable of it, what with his kind and just nature, as against the viciousness of the rakshasa clan that he is born into.
After a severe penance and a successful yagna, Bali is all set to make his dream come true, only to find out that Indra had been crowned king of the heavens. Overcome by greed, Bali drives Indra out of the Devaloka and crowns himself king.
At Indra’s mother’s request, Lord Vishnu takes the avatar of Vamana, a dwarf, to reinstate Indra in his throne.
Read the story to find out how Vamana brings an end to Bali’s reign.
Sundari Venkatraman is an Indie Author who has 72 self-published books to her credit. These books have consistently featured in the Top 100 Bestseller Lists on Amazon India, Amazon USA, Amazon UK, Amazon Canada and Amazon Australia in both romance as well as Asian Drama categories. Her latest hot romances have all been on #1 Bestseller slot in Amazon India for over a month. These days, the author is independently publishing her novels in paperback format under her banner Flaming Sun, printed and distributed by Notion Press. Even as a child, Sundari absolutely loved the ‘lived happily ever after’ syndrome and she grew up on a steady diet of fairy tales, Phantom comics and Mandrake comics. It was always about good triumphing over evil and a happy ending after the protagonists surmounted all unexpected obstacles. Once she entered her teens, Sundari switched her loyalties from fairy tales to Mills & Boon. While she loved reading both of these, she kept visualising what would have happened if there were similar situations happening in India; to local heroes and heroines. And of course, the joy of vanquishing the ubiquitous evil villains! Her imagination soared and she happily ensconced herself in a rosy romantic cocoon for many years. Then came the writing—a true bolt from the blue! And Sundari Venkatraman has never looked back. Use hashtag #60at60 You can connect with the author here: https://linktr.ee/sundarivenkatraman
All my childhood memories are back. Nostalgia. Those who don't know the story of Vamana and those who want to know the reason behind why we celebrate Onam should read this book. We celebrate Onam festival to commemorate King Mahabali, whose spirit is said to visit Kerala at the time of Onam. Mahabali was a grand son of Prahalad, which we can read in Narasimha story. It was a good read.
This story is based on the Vamana Avatar of Lord Vishnu. Vamana means a dwarf, a form he takes to teach the world, humility. There are many forms of this story. In one version we have the God feeling threatened by Bali and in other, we have a mother trying to protect the future of her son. Ms. Venkatraman chose the version where the mother's love comes in the way of justice. Aditi prays to Lord Vishnu to save her son from the impending march of Bali towards Indra's throne. It will surprise you to read that this version is not a pure good vs evil form of battle. It's more of a political statement on the part of the Gods. I often wonder about the rights and wrongs of the mythological aspects of a story.
Myths are often created with a perspective in mind and who knows how it has been bent, mended and remade with the passage of time. Who are we to question the workings of the God but a questioning mind can't help asking - was it always right? Were the God's always correct? This question I have always asked myself when I had read about Bali and Vamana and also about Mohini Avatar of Lord Vishnu.
Ms. Venkatraman's version too has raised a few questions in my mind and I hope it does in yours too. They write such stories to question the minds of the readers, to challenge their thinking power and most of all to debate on the rights and the wrongs. This does not stagnate us but elevates us to the next level of thinking.
Bali promises to give three parts of this land to a small dwarf yet he smiles and gives it all up when that small dwarf takes the form of Trivikrama and takes everything away from Bali and the world is left with a lesson of humility and not being greedy about what others have.
Such a short story had a huge dose of moral to impart. I am also glad that Bali's story was not left at that. He got his redemption as he richly deserved.
Coming to the storytelling part of this short read, it is short enough to capture the minds of the young readers. A child of five to 10 would love it. As a mother what I would have loved are some graphics along with this novel. If we are out to reach the minds of the young readers, a few pictures might help.
Recommended for young mothers and kids between 5 to 12.. If you want your kids to know our mythological stories, here is one series you should not miss.
Whilst I am familiar with this story, you only read or hear up to when Shri Vishnu takes the 3 paces of land. I'm glad that in this version we read about what happened to Bali after. This story tells us that it doesn't matter which family you are born into, everyone is capable of being true bhak.