Anugraha : His Holiness Sri Sri Vishwapriyatheerta Swamiji
Compilation: Dr. Vamshikrishna Acharya Purohit
Translation: Sandesh Upadhyaya K.
Owing to Shukracharya’s prowess acquired by religious austerities, the might of his army and the fruit of the Vishwajit Yāga, the haughty Bali Chakravarthi charged to face Indra in the battlefield. The Śāstras elucidate the preparations Bali undertook to confront Indra – the ruler of the gods, in the battlefield.
Shukracharya gave Bali a chariot, horses, flag, bow, a couple of quivers (to hold arrows), a garland made of flowers that would never fade and sent him to war. Let us understand the significance of these items from a spiritual perspective. Shukracharya earned these through fire (Agni) and gave them to Bali. The first among these was the chariot. A golden chariot at that! While performing the Vishwajit Yāga, Bali rendered the offerings (Āhuti) in the most befitting manner to Agni. Vyāsa quotes it as “havirbhiḥi idadhāt hutāśanāt”. Pleased by the offerings made by Bali during the Vishwajit Yāga, Agni provided him with a golden chariot. Further, there was a requirement of horses to be harnessed to this chariot. The horses too were provided by Agni. Vyāsa specifically mentions that the color of these horses was white. Through this likening, probably Vyāsa intends to highlight the equivalence between Bali and Indra. Shukracharya too provided him with horses of similar color, that he obtained through Agni. Likewise, Arjuna’s horses too were white in color. In fact, it was Agni who gave him the horses. Indira’s horse had emerged from the churning of the milky ocean. It was called Uccaiḥśrava. In this way, Bali used white horses to tow his chariot. Additionally, there was need for a flag atop the chariot. During ancient times, these flags were looked at to identify the person who was approaching. The symbols on the chariot flags reflected the personality of the person riding the chariot. For example, if the flag had a symbol of a kamaṇḍalu (a vessel carried by saints), it indicated Drōṇa. The monkey symbol represented Arjuna. Similarly, Bali used the symbol of a lion. Bali affixed a flag with the symbol of a lion and left for the battlefield.
Bali had also obtained a golden bow. Holding this wonderful golden bow, he boarded his chariot and left for war. Yet another gift received from Agni was a couple of quivers. This quiver never ran out of arrows. It was a quiver which was inexhaustible. Herein lay the uniqueness of these quivers. Arjuna too had a bow and a couple of quivers. The reason for having two quivers was that he possessed the ability to shoot arrows from both his hands. That is why he is renowned as Savyasāci. It means, one who is capable of using arrows not only through his right hand but the left hand too. Likewise, Bali Chakravarthi was capable of shooting arrows with his left hand as well. That is why Agni conferred him with two quivers. In this way, Bali was also Savyasāci. Thus, he fastened these inexhaustible quivers on either side of his shoulders as he proceeded for war.
While all these arrangements were under way, Bali’s grandfather bhakta Prahlāda came there. He put a Lotus garland that would never fade around his grandson Bali’s neck. Here we can find similarity between grandfather and grandson. Prahlādaraja’s inner soul was of utmost purity (paramasātvika) but externally, he had a gargantuan personality. Bali was also internally pure (sātvika) but his physical appearance was monstrous. That is why the two have been likened to one another. Finally, Bali left, blowing his conch incessantly along the way. For this, he was encouraged by two great luminaries. One was the exceptional devotee Prahlādaraja and the other was the all-knowing Shukracharya. This is the manner in which Bali prepared to battle with Indra and defeat him.
All of this has been described Vyāsa in great detail. This is just a superficial view. With Vyāsa detailing so much, it seems he is indicating at something very significant at the core. We must comprehend the spiritual significance of this and inculcate it into our lives. Only by doing so, will we be able to grasp the in-depth narrative of Vyāsa and become seekers. Let’s try to explore more of these in our next issue.
… To be continued
A seeker of Madhva philosophy. Hails from Rupyapeeta (Udupi).
|| विष्णो: सर्वोत्तमत्वं च सर्वदा प्रतिपादय ||
(Hari sarvothama Vayu jeevothama tatva)