Mahabali - The Maha Giver

“You give but little when you give of your possessions.

 It is when you give of yourself that you truly give.” – Khalil Gibran

Festivities come and go each year, but for every individual, it has different significance year after year. We in our journey towards making a difference, we touch many people’ lives, we gather new insights, we learn and unlearn many lessons and we search within for many answers. As the world is paused by this pandemic, we recharged ourselves, re-scripted, and redesigned ourselves and embraced the new ways of life. We are waiting for yet another Onam to come. An Onam which is going to be much more than getting up early, visiting the temple and eat purely vegetarian Onam Sadhya.

               As we all know Onam represents and evokes a sense of plentitude and prosperity. It is a festival to commemorate the homecoming of our beloved king Mahabali from the Patalalokham. So, the legend goes this way. Mahabali, the Asura king unlike his peers was a benevolent and generous King. Mahabali also through trickery had consumed the eternal nectar amritham, which gave him immortality. With his valour, he captured heaven and earth. Green with envy, the Gods approached Lord Vishnu, who used the strategic plan to trap Mahabali. He incarnated as a dwarf brahmin, Vamana and approached Mahabali for alms, in the form of three steps of land. The generous King Mahabali immediately agreed to it, upon which Vamana metamorphosed into Trivikrama or giant form. In two steps he covered the whole of earth and heaven and did not have a place to keep his third step. Mahabali offered his own head for the third step. Thus, he was pushed to the nether land. Acceding to the request of Mahabali, Vamana granted him a boon whereby he could return to his beloved subjects once every year. And this day is celebrated as Onam.

               The story or legend or the myth can be interpreted in many ways, but it is upon us how we take it and relate it to our current scenarios and situations. Taking the essence from the story, we can elucidate Vamana’s three steps into a wider meaning. The first step where he measures the earth is indicating the human beings to look around and be humbled by the sheer number of other living beings like us on this earth. The second step of measuring the skies is an indication for us to look up into the sky and be humbled by the vastness and multitude of the universe and cosmos, and to feel how insignificantly menial we are in this universe. The third step, on Mahabali’s head, is the realization of our personal existence. If we place our hand on our head we realize that in this cycle of births and deaths, the time-span of each of our lives is a short span, and the role we play in this cosmos is even smaller.

               Mahabali is an embodiment of the virtues we possess in each one of us. Mahabali can be personified as the sacrifices, benevolence, kindness, selflessness. This is the time to bring out the Mahabalis inside us out. During this Covid-19 pandemic, we have seen the sacrifices the health front liners have made. Even when keeping a safe distance physically let’s come closer to heart by helping our fellow beings, the lesser fortunate ones. Let us all be the Mahabali, the ‘Maha Giver” and bring the pride of sharing.