King Bali: Was he Good or Evil?

In this post I am going to talk about one of the very popular characters from Hindu mythology called Bali. What makes this character very unique and special is that there is a lot of confusion regarding whether he was good person or an evil villain.

If you go across the length and breadth of India and ask this question to people you will get a varied set of responses. Some people worship him at the level of a demi-God king. Some people may consider him the arch villain for a prominent avatar of Vishnu and there will be some who will have no idea who he was or a vague confused idea about who he could be.

What does Dashavatar of Vishnu Mean?

Before I get into the details of Bali let me start by giving some context about the concept of Dashavatar in Hinduism.

Dashavatar translates to 10 incarnations of Lord Vishnu. It is believed that life on earth is cyclical and and it goes through phases of growth and decay again and again.

Avatar or incarnation of Vishnu is believed to appear whenever some evil force threatens the values of morality and justice on earth or creates unbearable sufferings for the humans.

Some popular examples are Ram avatar to get rid of Ravan the demon king and Narsimha avatar that killed the evil Hiranyakashipu.

Almost all of the stories related Avatars will start from a evil demon getting too powerful leading him to become arrognat and bringing upon wanton destruction and torture to everyone around him. To put an end to these atrocities Vishnu will take form of an incarnation and put an end to the demon.

Story of Vaman Avatar and King Bali!

I have read the story of Vaman Avatar from different sources and what is common in all versions is that it talks about a renowned King called Bali who was known for his generocity in giving alms to the needy specially when he will perform large scale rituals to please the gods.

Performing these rituals called Yagna/ Yajna is a very common practice in India and almost everyone does is as per their individual capacity.

During the ritual Bali will invite Brahmins (Hindu scholars) to bless his ritual and then give them alms as per what they wanted.

Vamana avatar had come in the form of a dwarf sized Brahmin. When asked about what he wanted as alms he replied that he did not wish for gold, cows, food or other common forms of gifts. He only wanted land that he cover with 3 steps.

Bali saw him small size and told him that if he wanted he could give him large stretches of land as his empire was so vast. With land the size of his 3 steps he will not be able to do anything. Vaman insisted that this was the only alm he wanted.

The royal advisor of Bali called Shukra advised him not to agree to this condition as something did not seem right about the small Brahmin. Bali however overlooked his advisor and agreed to give Vaman land that he could cover with 3 steps.

The moment Bali confirms the boon to Vaman, he starts growing in size and becomes so huge that his head seems to have gone beyond the clouds. With his first step he covers the entire earth and then covers the entire sky with his second step and then he asks Bali that where should he place his third step. Bali humbly bows down and asks Vaman to plant the third step on his head. Vaman places his foot on Bali which pushes him down to Paatal Lok under Earth, which is the equivalent of Underworlds in Hinduism.

What Makes the Story of Bali Unique?

I have read the story of Bali several times from different sources like translations of the Vedas and the Puranas and I could not find any instance where there was mention of any evil practices or intentions of Bali. He never unjustly harmed anyone nor did he intend to harm anyone. He is always depicted as a benevolent ideal king who looked after the people he ruled.

The only reason why Vishnu came as Vaman to banish Bali was because the Gods in heaven were feel insecure with the growing virtues of Bali as he performed more and more rituals and good deeds.

In Hinduism the term Indra means King of Gods and it does not refer to an individual person but a title of the most virtuous of demi-gods and gods. The Gods felt threatened that as the merits of Bali grew he might become Indra and rule over them all.

This is something which has happened in several occasions in Hindu scriptures. Whenever a sage starts intense meditation Gods have interfered to stop it from being successful.

Some famous instances being gods sending the Apsaras (heavenly dancers known for their good looks) to break the meditation of sages.

Coming back to Bali, it is clear from the story that he lived a virtuous and moral life from the start to the end. So the Vaman avatar came not to stop his atrocities but just to ensure that the power stays with Devatas (Hindu gods) and does not pass over to Asuras (Demon gods), as Bali was a Asura by birth.

There is a annual harvest festival in the state of Kerala called Onam where Bali is revered. It is believed that Vishnu felt remorse about punishing Bali so severely while he had not done anything wrong. So Vishnu grants Bali a boon that once every year during Onam he will come back to Earth and witness the festivities of the people he ruled.

Key Lesson from Story of Bali!

The story of Bali may seem unfair but for me there is a key message in it which tells us that if we uphold our values even in the toughest of the situations our valor will be recognized even in cases where we don’t come out successful.

Om Namah Shivay!