Lord Vāmanadeva’s Appearance Day

The Supreme Personality of Godhead, who has a sac-cid-ananda body, appeared as the son of Rishi Kasyapa and Aditi, as Lord Vamanadeva. He appeared at an auspicious moment on Sravana-dvadasi with the rising Abhijit star,  which made all the three worlds, demigods, cows, the brahmanas and even the seasons happy and joyful. Therefore, the day is called Vijaya. As described by Sukadeva Goswami, in ŚB 8.18.1

 

śrī-śuka uvāca

itthaṁ viriñca-stuta-karma-vīryaḥ

prādurbabhūvāmṛta-bhūr adityām

catur-bhujaḥ śaṅkha-gadābja-cakraḥ

piśaṅga-vāsā nalināyatekṣaṇaḥ

“Śukadeva Gosvāmī said: After Lord Brahmā had thus spoken, glorifying the Supreme Lord’s activities and prowess, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, who is never subject to death like an ordinary living being, appeared from the womb of Aditi. His four hands were decorated with a conchshell, club, lotus and disc, He was dressed in yellow garments, and His eyes appeared like the petals of a blooming lotus.”

yat tad vapur bhāti vibhūṣaṇāyudhair

avyakta-cid-vyaktam adhārayad dhariḥ

babhūva tenaiva sa vāmano vaṭuḥ

sampaśyator divya-gatir yathā naṭaḥ
 

ŚB 8.18.12 describes, “The Lord appeared in His original form, with ornaments and weapons in His hands. Although this ever-existing form is not visible in the material world, He nonetheless appeared in this form. Then, in the presence of His father and mother, He assumed the form of Vāmana, a brāhmaṇa-dwarf, a brahmacārī, just like a theatrical actor.”

Sacred Thread Ceremony of Lord Vāmanadeva 

Kasyapa Muni performed the birthday ceremony and sacred thread ceremony of Lord Vamanadeva with great jubilation. In the glories of Lord Vamanadeva’s divine appearance, it is mentioned that, The body of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, blackish in complexion, was free from all inebrieties. His lotus face, decorated with earrings resembling sharks, appeared very beautiful, and on His bosom was the mark of Śrīvatsa. He wore bangles on His wrists, armlets on His arms, a helmet on His head, a belt on His waist, a sacred thread across His chest, and ankle bells decorating His lotus feet. When the Lord appeared, wearing the Kaustubha gem on His neck, His effulgence vanquished the darkness in the home of the Prajāpati Kaśyapa.

When the great sages saw the Lord as the brahmacārī-dwarf Vāmana, they were certainly very pleased. Thus they placed before them Kaśyapa Muni, the Prajāpati, and performed all the ritualistic ceremonies, such as the birthday ceremony. At the sacred thread ceremony of Vāmanadeva, the sun-god personally uttered the Gāyatrī mantra, Bṛhaspati offered the sacred thread, and Kaśyapa Muni offered a straw belt. Mother earth gave Him a deerskin, and the demigod of the moon, who is the king of the forest, gave Him a brahma-daṇḍa [the rod of a brahmacārī]. Mother Bhagavatī, the wife of Lord Śiva and most chaste mother of the entire universe, gave Him His first alms.

Having thus been welcomed by everyone, Lord Vāmanadeva, the best of the brahmacārīs, exhibited His Brahman effulgence. Thus He surpassed in beauty that entire assembly, which was filled with great saintly brāhmaṇas. After Lord Śrī Vāmanadeva set a sacrificial fire, He offered worship and performed a fire sacrifice on the sacrificial field.

Lord Vāmanadeva enters Maharaj Bali’s ceremony

When the Lord heard that Bali Mahārāja was performing aśvamedha sacrifices under the patronage of brāhmaṇas belonging to the Bhṛgu dynasty, the Supreme Lord, who is full in every respect, proceeded there to show His mercy to Bali Mahārāja.  

mauñjyā mekhalayā vītam

upavītājinottaram

jaṭilaṁ vāmanaṁ vipraṁ

māyā-māṇavakaṁ harim

praviṣṭaṁ vīkṣya bhṛgavaḥ

saśiṣyās te sahāgnibhiḥ

pratyagṛhṇan samutthāya

saṅkṣiptās tasya tejasā 

ŚB 8.18.24-25 mentions, “Lord Vamanadeva appeared as a brāhmaṇa boy, wearing a belt of straw, a sacred thread, an upper garment of deerskin, and matted locks of hair, Lord Vāmanadeva entered the arena of sacrifice. His brilliant effulgence diminished the brilliance of all the priests and their disciples, who thus stood from their seats and welcomed the Lord properly by offering obeisances.

When Bali Maharaj, thinking of Vamanadeva to be the son Brahman told him to ask for anything he liked. To which the Lord replied, tasmāt tvatto mahīm īṣad vṛṇe ’haṁ varadarṣabhāt padāni trīṇi daityendra sammitāni padā mama “O King of the Daityas, from Your Majesty, who come from such a noble family and who are able to give charity munificently, I ask only three paces of land, to the measurement of My steps.”

Bali Mahārāja agreed to give this land in charity, since this was very insignificant, but Śukrācārya, who could understand that Vāmanadeva was Viṣṇu, the friend of the demigods, forbade Bali Mahārāja to give this land. Śukrācārya advised Bali Mahārāja to withdraw his promise. However, Bali Mahārāja didn’t listen to his Guru Śukrācārya and agreed to give three paces of land.

Lord Vāmanadeva then immediately extended Himself into His universal form. By the mercy of Lord Vāmanadeva, Bali Mahārāja could see that the Lord is all-pervading and that everything rests in His body. Bali Mahārāja could see Lord Vāmanadeva as the supreme Viṣṇu, wearing a helmet, yellow garments, the mark of Śrīvatsa, the Kaustubha jewel, a flower garland, and ornaments decorating His entire body. Thus the Supreme Personality of Godhead, whose activities are wonderful, covered the entire surface of the earth with one footstep.

With the second step the Supreme Personality of Godhead reached the topmost planet of the universe, Brahmaloka, which He diminished in beauty by the effulgence of His toenails. Therefore, there was no vacant place where He could take His third footstep. Bali Mahārāja was extremely truthful. Being unable to keep his promise, he was very much afraid, for he knew that one who has deviated from truthfulness is insignificant in the eyes of society. Bali Mahārāja agreed with great pleasure to accept the punishment awarded him by the Supreme Personality of Godhead. In Bali Mahārāja’s dynasty there were many asuras who because of their enmity toward Viṣṇu had achieved a destination more exalted than that of many mystic yogīs. Bali Mahārāja specifically remembered the determination of Prahlāda Mahārāja in devotional service. Considering all these points, he decided to give his head in charity as the place for Viṣṇu’s third step. 

Maharaja Bali as Mahajana

This divine pastime by the Supreme Personality of Godhead is referred to as causeless mercy by Maharaj Bali. He mentionsmentioned in ŚB 8.22.5, "Since Your Lordship is indirectly the greatest well-wisher of us demons, You act for our best welfare by posing as if our enemy. Because demons like us always aspire for a position of false prestige, by chastising us, You give us the eyes by which to see the right path."

Srila Prabhupada, the Founder-Acharya of the Worldwide Hare Krishna Movement, explained this in one of His lectures, 

“How he became mahājana? Because he's surrendering fully unto the Supreme Personality of Godhead, this Vāmanadeva, incarnation of..., keśava dhṛta-vāmana-rūpa

Therefore he became a mahājana, exemplary. Because you cannot give up your spiritual master. That is a great sin. Once accepted, the spiritual master takes responsibility for the disciple. And disciple also must be obedient to the spiritual master for life, for good. That is the relationship. So if one rejects spiritual master, he becomes a great sinner, most sinful. So Bali Mahārāja rejected his spiritual master. That's a great sin. But he rejected on śāstric ground, because he objected for Viṣṇu worship. Therefore such spiritual master should be rejected. Therefore he became mahājana, authority.”

Glories of Lord Vamanadeva
Lord Vamanadeva was honoured as the protector of the Vedas, the principles of religion, fame, opulence, auspiciousness, vows, elevation to the higher planetary system and liberation, the supreme master of everything. Although the demigods acquired the heavenly planets, the great Bali Maharaja experienced the highest gain in life to attain devotional service under the shelter of the Lord’s lotus feet in full surrender.

Those who hear about this are certainly freed from all the results of sinful activities. Whenever the activities of Vāmanadeva are described in the course of a ritualistic ceremony, whether the ceremony be performed to please the demigods, to please one’s forefathers in Pitṛloka, or to celebrate a social event like a marriage, that ceremony should be understood to be extremely auspicious.