Yesudas and AMMA views on Mahabali .

October 6, 2008

Krishna , Guruvayoorappa ! Dear Bhaktas ,

During the recent Onam festival , Shri. K.J.Yesudas ( Playback singer) stated in a TV program :

" I can not accept the action of sending the virtuous King Mahabali to the netherworld . I will not agree with Vishnu for doing it . " .

Interestingly, Shree Matha Amritananadamayi espoused in Her Onam discourse :

" There is nothing wrong with becoming a King and ruling, but one should be able to serve people selflessly with the attitude of a servant . Examples of such leaders are , Mahatmas Sri Krishna and Sri Rama. Mahabali was also able to become such an expansive ruler, because he converted his demonic qualities into divine ones and always put the Lord before him .

Let Me explain the significance of Mahabali offering his head as the final place for Lord Vishnu to place His feet . The seat of the ego is the head ; the centre of love, the heart . When the feet of Vishnu are placed upon our head, the heart overflows with divine love . The ego is driven down into the netherworld . Then one becomes humbler than the humblest . The way Mahabali ruled his kingdom was by keeping the Lord before him. His acceptance of the feet of the Lord on his head is symbolic of his surrender to the Lord's will—bowing down before Him . This is the reason why his kingdom was the abode of peace, equality and prosperity ."

May Shree Guruvayoorappan bless us all !!!

Dasan

October 7, 2008

Hare Krishna

Dasanji,

Just adding what Sharmaji had told us during the Narayaneeyam parayaneeyam.

Although Mahabali might have been an efficient and benevolent ruler and was

loved by his subjects, he had fallen prey to pride and greed and had conqured

even those worlds that was not meant for him to rule. Being an asura, he was

supposed to limit his kingdom to the netherworld, but he snatched away

swargalokam and bhoolokam also from their rulers and started to rule them

himself. It was like a tenant who was supposed to stay in the ground floor of an

apartment encroaching into the 1st and 2nd floors. So it becomes the

responsibility of the landlord (our Jagatpati) to do the 'kudi ozhippikkal' and

send the encroacher back to the place where he belongs, in Mahabali's case the

sutala loka thereby establishing dharma for the residents of all three worlds.

Just because Mahabali surrendered his ego at the lotus feet of the Lord, He

blessed Mahabali by touching those lotus feet to his head. Sharmaji commented

that it is a mistake to say 'mahabaliye pathaalathikeku chavitti thaazhthi' like

we keralites usually say. Mahabali was infact rewarded beyond words for his

bhakthi by the touch of Lord's padakamalam and let us remember that it is for

those very same lotus feet that our great rishis and yogis do tapasya for ages

together.

So when some ignorant soul who does not realise the glories of Lord's lotus feet

or His divine leelas makes such comments, being His devotees, it is our duty to

be able to forgive him and forget the episode. An expert should be consulted for

advices only from his field of specialisation. So we should know whom to listen

to when it comes to music, and whom when it is about spiritual matters.

Hare Krishna

Sarath

________________________________

guruvayur on behalf of dasa1313

Mon 10/6/2008 6:04 PM

guruvayur

[Guruvayur] Yesudas and AMMA views on Mahabali .

Krishna , Guruvayoorappa ! Dear Bhaktas ,

During the recent Onam festival , Shri. K.J.Yesudas ( Playback singer) stated

in a TV program :

" I can not accept the action of sending the virtuous King Mahabali to the

netherworld . I will not agree with Vishnu for doing it . " .

Interestingly, Shree Matha Amritananadamayi espoused in Her Onam discourse :

" There is nothing wrong with becoming a King and ruling, but one should be able

to serve people selflessly with the attitude of a servant . Examples of such

leaders are , Mahatmas Sri Krishna and Sri Rama. Mahabali was also able to

become such an expansive ruler, because he converted his demonic qualities into

divine ones and always put the Lord before him .

Let Me explain the significance of Mahabali offering his head as the final

place for Lord Vishnu to place His feet . The seat of the ego is the head ; the

centre of love, the heart . When the feet of Vishnu are placed upon our head,

the heart overflows with divine love . The ego is driven down into the

netherworld . Then one becomes humbler than the humblest . The way Mahabali

ruled his kingdom was by keeping the Lord before him. His acceptance of the feet

of the Lord on his head is symbolic of his surrender to the Lord's will-bowing

down before Him . This is the reason why his kingdom was the abode of peace,

equality and prosperity . "

May Shree Guruvayoorappan bless us all !!!

Dasan

October 8, 2008

Namaste Dasanji and other Gurudevs!

As a person interested Srimad Bhagavatam and Srimad

Narayaneeyam, I believe that Lord Vamana appeared only to remove the darpam of

King Bali as the title " Balidarpasamanam " of chapter 31 of Narayaneeyam

indicates. By our standards King Bali had everything and we may think he lost

it all when Lord Vamana took the first two steps. What King Bali had was nothing in the eyes

of the Lord and He did not want anything of that. Therefore, He, as Melpathur says, in His

infinite and immeasurable kindness took the darpam that Bali

had. Then He sent the asura king to

Sutalam where no one would cause him any harm.

It is said that Sutalam is better than even svargam. On the top of it the Lord had His Sudarsanam

protect King Bali. If that were not

sufficient, He made King Bali made the Indra

in the next manvantaram. With all these

acts of kindness what can you say about Lord other than addressing Him as

Bhaktavalsala or Karunakara and pay obeisance?

Also I celebrate Onam only as the day of the appearance of

Lord Vamana. The so called coming back

of Mahabali, a great devotee, is only incidental as I view it.

It is my belief that whatever is said in Srimad Bhagavatam

is right irrespective of what I hear from someone contesting those words. After all, Bhagavan's words have to be true!

Hari Om!

Chith Puram

On Mon, Oct 6, 2008 at 7:34 AM, dasa1313 <no_reply > wrote:

Krishna , Guruvayoorappa ! Dear Bhaktas ,

During the recent Onam festival , Shri. K.J.Yesudas ( Playback singer) stated in a TV program :

" I can not accept the action of sending the virtuous King Mahabali to the netherworld . I will not agree with Vishnu for doing it . " .

Interestingly, Shree Matha Amritananadamayi espoused in Her Onam discourse :

" There is nothing wrong with becoming a King and ruling, but one should be able to serve people selflessly with the attitude of a servant . Examples of such leaders are , Mahatmas Sri Krishna and Sri Rama. Mahabali was also able to become such an expansive ruler, because he converted his demonic qualities into divine ones and always put the Lord before him .

Let Me explain the significance of Mahabali offering his head as the final place for Lord Vishnu to place His feet . The seat of the ego is the head ; the centre of love, the heart . When the feet of Vishnu are placed upon our head, the heart overflows with divine love . The ego is driven down into the netherworld . Then one becomes humbler than the humblest . The way Mahabali ruled his kingdom was by keeping the Lord before him. His acceptance of the feet of the Lord on his head is symbolic of his surrender to the Lord's will—bowing down before Him . This is the reason why his kingdom was the abode of peace, equality and prosperity . "

May Shree Guruvayoorappan bless us all !!!

Dasan

October 9, 2008

Om Namo Narayanaya.

Namaste Chith Puramji.

I totally agree with the view that you view Onam "... as the day of the appearance of Lord Vamana...the coming of Bali is only incidental...".

I have always felt uncomfortable that we celebrate our biggest festival to honor a demon King. When I explain Onam to my non-Malayalee friends my emphasis is on the Vamana avtaar!

On King Bali and his being sent to Sutala, we have had an interesting thread on the topic in the past. Members interested in the topic can follow the link below for more details; I have copied below an excerpt from a post by Shri Sriram Subramaniam on the topic, an interesting post.

______guruvayur/message/10451Regarding Mahabali, first of all there is absolutely no Puranic record that he ruled over Kerala. It is not mentioned anywhere in the Bhagavatam at all. It is just a belief that has originated in Kerala since some time. Remember Sanatana Dharma is not some "you believe, i believe" kind of religion. It is firmly rooted in the words of God - the Shastras. Even the yajnam performed by Mahabali was on the banks of the Narmada River, which is nowhere near Kerala. Some people have floated a story that "vAmanan mahAbaliyE chaviTTi thaazhthi" (Vamana has trodden down Mahabali to hell) & that this is a representation of savaRNan avaRNanE chaviTTi thaazhthi. (that the upper castes have trodden down the lower castes). Hence they consider Vamana as their sworn enemy

and Mahabali as their friend. In fact Vamana appeared to remove Bali's pride and bless him personally. Bali was very proud that all three worlds are his and he can give anyone anything at will. Whereas we know that everything is owned by the Supreme Lord and we are only supposed to use our share without disturbing others........... It is high time all of us inspect the Srimad Bhagavatam and find out what exactly is said about Mahabali therein.Here it is from the Srimad Bhagavatam Canto 8, Chapter 22, Slokas 31-36:-

SB 8.22.31: The Lord continued: Because of his great tolerance, I have given him (Bali Maharaja) a place not obtainable even by the demigods. He will become King of the heavenly planets during the period of the Manu known as Saavarni.

SB 8.22.32: Until Bali Maharaja achieves the position of King of heaven, he shall live on the planet Sutala which was made by Vishvakarma according to My order. Because it is especially protected by Me, it is free from mental and bodily miseries, fatigue, dizziness, defeat and all other disturbances. Bali Maharaja, you may now go live there peacefully.

SB 8.22.33: O Bali Maharaja [indrasena], now you may go to the planet Sutala, which is desired even by the demigods. Live there peacefully, surrounded by your friends and relatives. All good fortune unto you.

SB 8.22.34: On the planet Sutala, not even the predominating deities of other planets, what to speak of ordinary people, will be able to conquer you. As far as the demons are concerned, if they transgress your rule, My disc will kill them.

SB 8.22.35: O great hero, I shall always be with you and give you protection in all respects along with your associates and paraphernalia. Moreover, you will always be able to see Me there.

SB 8.22.36: Because there you will see My supreme prowess, your materialistic ideas and anxieties that have arisen from your association with the demons and Dànavas will immediately be vanquished.

Please note that Mahabali was not scheduled for immediate promotion to Vaikuntha. Mahabali was sent to a kingdom called Sutala which is more opulent than Indra's heavenly kingdom. The added benefit is that the Lord Himself will be Bali's doorkeeper. In due course, Mahabali will become Indra. So no way this is a trodden down state.-sriram

_________________

Regards.

Veena.--- On Wed, 10/8/08, Chith Puram <krsnakrpa wrote:

Chith Puram <krsnakrpaRe: [Guruvayur] Yesudas and AMMA views on Mahabali .guruvayur Date: Wednesday, October 8, 2008, 10:19 AM

Namaste Dasanji and other Gurudevs!

As a person interested Srimad Bhagavatam and Srimad Narayaneeyam, I believe that Lord Vamana appeared only to remove the darpam of King Bali as the title "Balidarpasamanam" of chapter 31 of Narayaneeyam indicates. By our standards King Bali had everything and we may think he lost it all when Lord Vamana took the first two steps. What King Bali had was nothing in the eyes of the Lord and He did not want anything of that. Therefore, He, as Melpathur says, in His infinite and immeasurable kindness took the darpam that Bali had. Then He sent the asura king to Sutalam where no one would cause him any harm. It is said that Sutalam is better than even svargam. On the top of it the Lord had His Sudarsanam protect King Bali. If that were not sufficient, He made King Bali made the Indra in

the next manvantaram. With all these acts of kindness what can you say about Lord other than addressing Him as Bhaktavalsala or Karunakara and pay obeisance?

Also I celebrate Onam only as the day of the appearance of Lord Vamana. The so called coming back of Mahabali, a great devotee, is only incidental as I view it.

It is my belief that whatever is said in Srimad Bhagavatam is right irrespective of what I hear from someone contesting those words. After all, Bhagavan's words have to be true!

Hari Om!

Chith Puram

On Mon, Oct 6, 2008 at 7:34 AM, dasa1313 <no_reply@ s.com> wrote:

Krishna , Guruvayoorappa ! Dear Bhaktas ,

During the recent Onam festival , Shri. K.J.Yesudas ( Playback singer) stated in a TV program :

" I can not accept the action of sending the virtuous King Mahabali to the netherworld . I will not agree with Vishnu for doing it . " .

Interestingly, Shree Matha Amritananadamayi espoused in Her Onam discourse :

" There is nothing wrong with becoming a King and ruling, but one should be able to serve people selflessly with the attitude of a servant . Examples of such leaders are , Mahatmas Sri Krishna and Sri Rama. Mahabali was also able to become such an expansive ruler, because he converted his demonic qualities into divine ones and always put the Lord before him .

Let Me explain the significance of Mahabali offering his head as the final place for Lord Vishnu to place His feet . The seat of the ego is the head ; the centre of love, the heart . When the feet of Vishnu are placed upon our head, the heart overflows with divine love . The ego is driven down into the netherworld . Then one becomes humbler than the humblest . The way Mahabali ruled his kingdom was by keeping the Lord before him. His acceptance of the feet of the Lord on his head is symbolic of his surrender to the Lord's will—bowing down before Him . This is the reason why his kingdom was the abode of peace, equality and prosperity ."

May Shree Guruvayoorappan bless us all !!!

Dasan