17.

154 - vAmanah
One with the Dwarf form.
Om vAmanAya namah.
vAmayati tyAjayati madam balim - One who expelled the pride out of Bali. Vam literally
means to vomit out, and vAm could mean one who made Bali literally vomit out his pride.
LingAyatasurin gives the interpretation vAmo valgutvam asya asti iti vAmanah - One who
has a very charming short form. Or it can be also be interpreted as vAmo vatutvam asya
asti iti vAmanah - One who has a short form of a gurukula student, which is how
mahAvishNu appeared in front of Bali to ask for the three feet of earth from him. The rupa
soundaryam (valgutvam) of the vAmana incarnation is beautifully described in Srimad
bhAgavatam - e.g., yajamAnah pramudito darSanIyam manoramam|
rUpAnurUpAvayavam tasmA Asanam Aharat|| - Bali, the yajamAna of the yAgaSala, saw
the beautiful appearance of the brahmachAri in the dwarf form and offered the seat to him
with a completely captivated heart (BhAgavatam 8-18-26).
Another interpretation - sarvANi vAmAni nayati iti vAmanah - One who bestows all the
desires of the devotees, or He produces joy in those who see Him, by His effulgence. In
chAndogyopanishad we have "esha u eva vAmanIh esha hi sarvANi vAmAni nayati
(chAndogyopanishad 4.25).

(152) Vaamanah -Of the ten great incarnations, the fifth one is Vaamana; and the very name
indicates One who has a small body. It was in the form of a child (vatuh =A child student in a
gurukula) that Vaamana approached the divinely righteous Emperor Mahaabali to beg of him a
little land, of the length of his tiny three steps-and the Lord measured in His three steps all the
three worlds and thus conquered Mahaabali. He checked (Vamayati) the rising pride of
possession in Bali, hence He, in that incarnation as a Vatu, is called Vaamana.
The term Vaamana also means worshipful: Him, the Dwarf, sitting in the middle of the heart,
all gods adore, so we read in the Kathopanishad (5-3). However, here the emphasis should be
upon the meaning short statured because of the contrast it makes with the following name.

154.
Vaamanah One with the Dwarf form
As Sri Adi Sankara puts it Balim Vaamana Roopena Yaachitavaan Iti Vamanah He
is called Vaamanah because he approached King Mahabali in the form of a dwarf
and asked for three feet of land as bhiksha.
The word Vamanah can be analysed in a number of ways:

Vaamayati Tyaajayati Madam Balim One who expelled the pride out of

MahaBali. Vam literally means to emit, eject or expel and in this context it
could mean that Bhagavan expelled pride out of MahaBali.
Vaamo valgutvam asya asti iti Vamanah One who has a very

charming short form.

Vaamo vatutvam asya asti iti Vamanah One who has a short form of a

Gurukula student, which is how MahaVishnu appeared in front of MahaBali to

ask for three feet of earth from him.
The beautiful form of Vaamana avataar is described in Srimad Bhagavatam as
follows:
Yajamaanah
Pramudito
Darshaaneeyam
Manoramam
|
Roopaanu Roopaavayavam Rasmaa Aasanam Aaharat ||

MahaBali, the Yajamaana of the Yaagashala, saw the beautiful

appearance of the Brahmachari in the dwarf form and offered the seat to him with a
completely captivated heart (Bhagavatam 8-18-26).
Yet another interpretation of Vamanah is based on the Chandogya Upanishad which
says:
Esha u eva Vaamaneeh esha hi sarvaani vaamaani nayati (Chandogyopanishad
4.25.2)
Meaning: One who bestows all the desires of the devotees, or one who produces
joy in those who see Him, by His effulgence.

Vaamanah Of the ten great incarnations, the fifth one is Vaamana.

Two meanings 1. very name indicates One who has a small body. 2. Vaamana
also means worshipful.

The word Vamanah can be analysed in a number of ways:

vAmayati tyAjayati madam balim One who expelled the pride out of Bali.
Vam literally means to vomit out, and vAm could mean one who made Bali
literally vomit out his pride.

LingAyatasurin gives the interpretation,

,
Vaamo valgutvam asya asti iti Vamanah One who has a
very charming short form.

Vaamo vatutvam asya asti iti Vamanah One who has

a short form of a Gurukula student, which is how MahaVishnu
appeared in front of MahaBali to ask for three feet of earth
from him.

Another interpretation
sarvANi vAmAni nayati iti vAmanah
One who bestows all the desires of the devotees, or

He produces joy in those who see Him, by His effulgence.

In chAndogyopanishad we have "esha u eva vAmanIh esha hi sarvANi
vAmAni nayati (chAndogyopanishad 4.25).

..

es a u eva vmanres a hi sarvn i vmni nayati

sarvn i vmni nayati ya evam veda 4.15.3
Yet another interpretation of Vamanah is based on the Chandogya
Upanishad
which
says:
Esha u eva Vaamaneeh esha hi sarvaani vaamaani nayati
(Chandogyopanishad
4.25.2)
Meaning: One who bestows all the desires of the devotees, or
one who produces joy in those who see Him, by His effulgence.

Vamana Avatara :

roy ravaa-dvdayuhrte bhijiti prabhu |sarve

nakatra-trdycakrus taj-jana dakia ||- SB 8.18.5.
On the day of ravaa-dvda [the twelfth day of the bright fortnight in the
month of Bhdra], when the moon came into the lunar mansion ravaa, at
the auspicious moment of Abhijit, the Lord appeared in this universe.

Considering the Lords appearance very auspicious, all the stars and
planets, from the sun to Saturn, were munificently charitable.

dvday savittihanadhyandina-gato npa |vijay-na s

proktyasy jana vidur hare ||- SB 8.18.6.
O King, when the Lord appeared on dvda, the twelfth day of the moon
the sun was at the meridian, as every learned scholar knows. This
dvda is called Vijay.
The Bhaagavatham beautifully describes the form of Vaamana as:


ittha saiyeu bhguv anekadhvitarkyao bhagavn sa
vana |chatra sadaa sajala kaaaluvivea bibhrad
dhayaedha-va ||. - SB 8.18.23.
While the priests of the Bhgu dynasty and their disciples talked and argued
in various ways, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Vmanadeva,
holding in His hands the rod, the umbrella and a waterpot full of water,
entered the arena of the avamedha sacrifice.


yajamnah pramudit daranyam manramam|
rpnurpvayavam tasm sanamharat||26||
TRANSLATION:
Bali Mahrja, jubilant at seeing Lord Vmanadeva, whose
beautiful limbs contributed equally to the beauty of His
entire body, offered Him a seat with great satisfaction.

As Sri Adi Sankara puts it

Balim Vaamana Roopena Yaachitavaan Iti Vamanah
He is called Vaamanah because he approached King Mahabali in
the form of a dwarf and asked for three feet of land as bhiksha.
Lord Vmanadeva Begs Charity from Bali Mahrja :
After his appearance, Lord Vmanadeva then visited the sacrificial arena
on the northern side of the Narmad River, at the field known as
Bhgukaccha, where brhmaas of the Bhgu dynasty were performing
yajas. Wearing a belt made of muja straw, an upper garment of deerskin
and a sacred thread and carrying in His hands a daa, an umbrella and a
waterpot (kamaalu), Lord Vmanadeva appeared in the sacrificial arena
of Mahrja Bali. Because of His transcendentally effulgent presence, all
the priests were diminished in their prowess, and thus they all stood from
their seats and offered prayers to Lord Vmanadeva.
After washing the Lords feet, Bali Mahrja immediately accepted the
water from the Lords feet on his head and felt that he and his predecessors
had certainly been glorified. Then Bali Mahrja inquired of Lord
Vmanadevas welfare and requested the Lord to ask him for money, jewels
or anything He might desire.
Lord Vamana replied,

tast tvatto ah adve ha varadarabhtpadni tri

daityendrasaitni pad aa- SB 8.19.16
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.

( Lord Vamana, being full in Himself, actually has nothing to want for His
self-interest. Lord Vmanadeva, therefore, had not gone to Bali Mahrja
for His own self-interest. )
Bali Mahrja said: O son of a brhmaa, Your instructions are as good as
those of learned and elderly persons. Nonetheless, You are a boy, and Your
intelligence is insufficient. Thus You are not very prudent in regard to Your
self-interest.
I am able to give You an entire island because I am the proprietor of the
three divisions of the universe. You have come to take something from me
and have pleased me by Your sweet words, but You are asking only three
paces of land. Therefore You are not very intelligent. ( According to Vedic
understanding, the entire universe is regarded as an ocean of space. In
that ocean there are innumerable planets, and each planet is called a
dvpa, or island. When approached by Lord Vmanadeva, Bali Mahrja
was actually in possession of all the dvpas, or islands in space. Bali
Mahrja was very pleased to see the features of Vmanadeva and was
ready to give Him as much land as He could ask, but because Lord
Vmanadeva asked only three paces of land, Bali Mahrja considered
Him not very intelligent. )
O small boy, one who approaches me to beg something should not have to
ask anything more, anywhere. Therefore, if You wish, You may ask from me
as much land as will suffice to maintain You according to Your needs.
Lord Vamanadeva said: O my dear King, even the entirety of whatever
there may be within the three worlds to satisfy ones senses cannot satisfy
a person whose senses are uncontrolled.
If I were not satisfied with three paces of land, then surely I would not be
satisfied even with possessing one of the seven islands, consisting of nine
varas. Even if I possessed one island, I would hope to get others.

We have heard that although powerful kings like Mahrja Pthu and
Mahrja Gaya achieved proprietorship over the seven dvpas, they could
not achieve satisfaction or find the end of their ambitions.

yadcchayopapannenasantuo vartate sukha |nsantuas tribhir
lokairajittopasditai ||- SB 8.19.24.
Word by word meaning :
yadcchay as offered by the supreme authority according to ones
karma; upapannena by whatever is obtained; santua one should
be satisfied; vartate there is; sukham happiness; na not;
asantua one who is dissatisfied; tribhi lokai even by possessing
the three worlds; ajita-tm one who cannot control his senses;
upasditai even though obtained.
Translation :
One should be satisfied with whatever he achieves by his previous destiny,
for discontent can never bring happiness. A person who is not selfcontrolled will not be happy even with possessing the three worlds.
After these statements MahaBali accepted the wish of Lord Vamanadeva ,
then Lord Vamana deva became Lord Trivikrama measured bhooloka and
suvarloka with two steps and and asked the place for third step. Then Bali
requests Lord to put his foot on his head and surrendered all of his
possessions and himself too. Lord Vamana deva placed him in sutala loka
and there Bali is living.
The story of Vaamana avataara teaches us one very important point
whatever you do in life, either good or bad, surrender to Him and you will be
liberated. Bali was a Chakravarthi, the most righteous of all Kings, a great
donor and the grandson of Prahalada. Yet, he had a fault his pride.
However, when Vishnu came to test him, Bali realized that the guest was
Paramathma Himself. He did not hesitate for even a second in bowing low

and offering his head as the space for the third step. And he was rewarded
with eternal fame. It was his instant surrender which raised him to the great
heights that we today praise him with.
In this context, the three steps that were demanded by Vaamana could
represent the three stages of Surrender. Physical surrender is when you
surrender to the Pancha-Bhoothas around you and fully realize that you are
made of them. This way, you surrender to God, who is the creator and the
controller of the five elements. Psychological surrender happens when we
dissociate from our minds and sacrifice the feelings of ego, pride, pain,
pleasure etc. We recognize that He is beyond mind and hence try to
transcend the mind. The final act is the intellectual sacrifice which is when
you trust God more than your intellect. The concept of I disappears and
you recognize that there is a higher power which drives you. And with that
comes Sharanaagati and that is exactly what Bali did.
And also it teaches us that, One should be satisfied with whatever he
achieves by his previous destiny, for discontent can never bring happiness.
A person who is not self-controlled will not be happy even with possessing
the three worlds.
When you have surrendered your body (represented by earth) and your
mind (represented by the heavens) there will be no hesitation in
surrendering your intellect and that is the lesson taught by the Vaamana
avataara.
Om Sri Vaamanaaya namah