Bhagavatham Stories

The moment Bali's vow was sealed through ritual completion, Vamana's form underwent instantaneous and catastrophic transformation. The humble dwarf brahmana, standing diminutively before the assembled crowd, suddenly expanded into Trivikrama—an incomprehensibly vast cosmic form spanning the entire creation. The transformation occurred not gradually but instantaneously, with such dramatic discontinuity that observers had no time to comprehend the change until it was already complete. The form that had appeared as a single being suddenly occupied space that encompassed all existence. His head seemed to touch the highest celestial realms; His body spread across all directions; His feet planted upon the lowest regions. Yet simultaneously, His form possessed infinite subtlety—each part containing complete awareness, each limb containing infinite potential, all vastness somehow unified within single cosmic identity. The expansion revealed that what appeared as physical limitation was merely voluntarily assumed appearance, masking infinite transcendent reality that had always been present within the humble form.

With His first step, Vamana covered the entire earth and all the planetary systems orbiting within earth's sphere. His foot stretched across planetary systems with such completeness that no space remained ungrasped. The earth itself, with all her mountains, oceans, continents, and innumerable beings, became merely the first stepping stone of the cosmic journey. Bali watched as the planetary systems he had ruled, the territories he had conquered, the dominions he had organized—all of them suddenly appeared as minor features in an infinitely vast landscape revealed beneath the Lord's first step. The apparent solidity and permanence of his conquests evaporated in the face of cosmic perspective. Yet the text notes that Bali's response wasn't resentful anger but progressive awe and recognition. Each moment as the Lord revealed more of His cosmic nature, Bali's comprehension underwent transformation. He began to understand, with crystalline clarity, that his offering had truly been received by the Supreme Lord Himself—the very being he had wondered about, the divinity that underlay all existence, the source of all power and authority.

With His second step, Vamana covered all the heavenly realms and celestial regions that had previously seemed beyond Bali's dominion. These were the realms of the demigods, the domains where celestial beings resided, the superior planetary systems from which the demigods observed lower realms. Yet even these exalted regions, with all their perfected conditions and magnificent beings, became merely the second stepping place of Trivikrama's cosmic strides. The heavenly realms that had seemed so elevated and unreachable when viewed from earthly perspective appeared as merely the second phase of cosmic topology when seen from the Supreme's perspective. All the celestial directions—north, south, east, west, above, below—suddenly seemed to be covered simultaneously by the cosmic form, which transcended directional limitation while simultaneously encompassing all directions within Itself.

The sight of this transformation stunned the assembly beyond mere shock into existential vertigo. What they had believed about reality, about power, about the significance of their own accomplishments or positions, suddenly revealed itself as based on radically incomplete perception. Demons who had felt secure in their strength recognized themselves as infinitesimally small within a cosmos that was itself infinitesimal within the Lord's form. Demigods who had seemed threatened by Bali's rising power suddenly understood that threats at their scale were negligible from cosmic perspective. Brahmanas who had participated in the sacrifice suddenly grasped the profound difference between ordinary ritual and this cosmic manifestation. The text describes that the assembled beings experienced simultaneous recognition: this was not merely a powerful being or even a great manifestation—this was the Supreme Lord Himself, the ultimate source of all reality, appearing in forms that revealed the true nature of existence behind conventional appearances.

The narrative emphasizes a profound teaching: the Supreme can compress or expand at will to fulfill cosmic purposes without any constraint or limitation. The same being who had appeared as a dwarf brahmana—humble, limited, dependent on charity—now appeared as infinite cosmic expanse encompassing all creation. Neither form represented His true nature more completely than the other; both were equal expressions of His freedom. He could appear diminutive and dependent; He could appear infinite and omnipotent. The apparent contradiction dissolved when understood from the perspective of the Lord's complete freedom and sovereignty. There is no inherent constraint limiting the Supreme's manifestations; every appearance is intentionally chosen and perfectly suited to accomplish specific purposes.

Bali watched as the domains and territories he had accumulated gradually vanished beneath the Lord's steps. His planetary systems disappeared with the first step; his celestial territories and higher realms disappeared with the second step. The text notes that what might have appeared as loss or theft from the perspective of material mind was experienced by Bali as progressive recognition of truth. He had imagined these domains were his own possessions, his accomplishments, his territory. Now he understood with devastating clarity that everything a ruler claims ultimately belongs to the Supreme Lord; offering it back simply means acknowledging reality that had always been true. The illusion that material conquest represents possession or ownership suddenly evaporated. Bali began to grasp that all power, all dominion, all territory ultimately rests as loan from the Supreme, to be utilized according to His will and withdrawn when His purposes change. The text describes Bali's consciousness undergoing radical transformation as the cosmic form revealed truth that no amount of instruction or argument could have accomplished.

The narrative notes that the assembly recognized something remarkable in Bali's response. Rather than despair or rebellion against the revelation and loss, Bali felt awe and recognition. He wasn't looking upon this cosmic transformation as destruction of his ambitions but as the answer to questions he didn't know he was asking. His deeper consciousness, activated through Aditi's prayers and sustained through his choice to honor his vow, recognized the Supreme's presence. The devotional seed within him, planted through his nobility and watered through his integrity, suddenly sprouted. He experienced not defeat but recognition; not loss but revelation; not catastrophe but grace.

With two of His three promised steps completed, Vamana had covered the entire manifest universe. The earth below, the heavens above, all directions and all spaces—all had been encompassed and transcended. Yet the promised third step remained unfulfilled. The text notes that the cosmic form now turned toward Bali in this moment. The third step's placement required solution. No space remained within the boundaries of creation. Every region had been covered by the first two steps. The episode vindicated Vamana's original humble request: in three steps He had actually reclaimed the entire universe, proving that humility can veil absolute sovereignty, that limitation assumed for specific purpose contains infinite potential, that the Supreme's freedom transcends any apparent constraint or condition.

The assembly trembled as the cosmic form turned toward the final step. Demons cowered in fear, suddenly understanding that they had been contending against the Lord Himself, that their opposition was futile resistance against the very source of their existence. Demigods stood in astonishment, recognizing that their salvation had already been accomplished through the Supreme's direct intervention, that their prayers and Aditi's austerity had been answered through this incomprehensible manifestation. Sukracarya, blind and displaced, could only comprehend through diminished senses that something cosmic was occurring. The entire assembly understood that this moment represented the axis upon which cosmic destiny was turning—the moment when the apparent victor (Bali) would be revealed as the one who had genuinely surrendered, when the humble request would accomplish what force could not, when the Supreme's freedom would transcend all expectations and categories.

The text emphasizes the paradox central to this episode: by presenting His limitless form, the Lord taught that apparent loss in service to Him becomes ultimate gain. The expansiveness of His steps left no doubt that surrender to the Supreme encompasses all realms, that offering everything material becomes the opportunity for gaining everything spiritual, that genuine loss of external possessions precisely frees consciousness to experience the infinite. Those who observed the cosmic form understood viscerally that possession of material domains meant nothing compared to the Lord's direct presence, that kingdoms and territories appeared insignificant compared to relationship with the Supreme.

The narrative momentum built toward the final moment. With two steps completed and no space remaining for the third, the cosmic form turned toward Bali with a question that would pierce to the very depth of his being and would offer him the opportunity to express the fullest possible surrender. The chapter ends with the cosmic Trivikrama poised for the third step, with all participants held in the gravity of a moment that would determine not merely political consequences but the spiritual transformation that would define epochs.