The power of small!
Story of King Bali & Lord Vamana
Led by King Bali, demons attacked heavens & displaced demigods from their kingdom. Distressed demigods prayed to Vishnu who agreed to help them. He manifested as dwarf son Vāmana to Kashyapa and his wife Aditi after she followed the directions of her husband & did Payovrata(penance done for 12 days subsisting on milk alone) to beget the Lord to help her son, Indra
One day while traversing the forest, Vāmana as Brahmana, reached the place where demon Bali was performing an elaborate fire sacrifice & begged for alms. Bali, being very charitable, was surprised with the tiny request of Vāmana asking for only 3 steps of land. But despite his spiritual master Shukracharya cautioning that the dwarf Vamana is playing a trick and would take everything to give it to demigods, Bali still granted the wish to the Brahmana.
The three steps is all the Lord wanted. He then grew in size & with just 2 steps covered the entire universe. He then asked Bali where to put the 3rd step, Bali offered his head under his feet. The Lord was extremely pleased with Bali’s humility & determination to keep his words. He then showered praise & rewarded the entire Sutaloka to Bali and also agreed to become his doorkeeper.
In our opulence we forget to deliberate small things hence make mistakes. A leader needs to seek advice but also use his discretion to choose which advice to take. Bali was strongly advised by his teacher not to accede to the request of Brahmana, who was none other than Vishnu. But learning this he became more determined to give what was promised. This ability is a sign that a leader can be given more responsibility and power else all is taken away.
We all need to keep an eye on the small details & use our discretion to understand the enormity of it. This would help us in making appropriate decisions aligned to the higher purpose of life
What would we do in such situations? Thoughts
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