His sudden growth

The demon king Mahabali had to be humbled, but when and

how was the Lord going to do this? That was something that

He would decide. A commentator says that the Lord was lying  down in His abode on His snake bed, and He resembled a bamboo plant that had bent down in the dew. He looked unhappy, because He was wondering how to save the many souls that were helpless, and that were unaware of the path to liberation. When He heard the cries of Indra, He became alert, said P.T. Seshadri, in a discourse.

Indra was crying out because of the treatment meted out

to him by Mahabali. Immediately, the Lord shrank His form,

assuming the form of a boy with a small stature. He went to

Mahabali and asked for a gift of land, such that He could

measure the gifted land with three steps of His. Mahabali

agreed to grant Him His request, and poured water in the

Lord’s hands, preparatory to gifting the land. The moment

the water touched the Lord’s palm, He rose to an unimaginable height. The One, who, a moment ago, had been short, was now of a huge height, whose one step spanned an entire world. The commentator says that He now looked like a bamboo plant, standing upright, when the rays of the sun fall on it.

We too grow from infancy to childhood, to teen age, to

adulthood. We then age and finally die. So what is the difference between our growth over the years and the Lord’s

growth, apart from the suddenness of the latter’s growth?

While we come to this earth and pass through the various

stages of life, because of our karma, He comes to this world

of His own will. He comes to save us.

There is no change in any of His auspicious qualities,

whether He assumes the form of a fish, a tortoise, a boar or

a half man half lion form as in the case of the Narasimha

avatara.