Vishnu narrates the Vamana Purana to Bali after vanquishing him. He tells the story of Bali's ancestor Andhak, who was consumed by power but later repented.
The Vamana Purana has 1 million couplets divided into 95 chapters. The chapters are divided into two sections – the “purva” or earlier section and the “uttara” or later section. Vamana, the Dwarf, who was the fifth incarnation of Vishnu, originally narrated the Vamana Purana. It was narrated to the Demon king Bali after Vishnu vanquished him. Later Sage Pulastya narrated the Purana to Narada.
Vamana Avatar
Bali was a powerful asura king. He was performing a sacrifice that would make him invincible. Before he could complete it Vamana appeared and asked for land that he could cover in three steps. Shukracharya, the preceptor of the demons, warned Bali against accepting this request. However the proud king said how much land can the dwarf cover in three steps and agreed. The dwarf then grew in size and covered the earth in one step, the heavens in the next and placed the third step on King Bali's head and pushed him into the netherworld. But before doing so he lauded Bali’s valor and strength of character and gave him advice, which has come down to us as the Vamana Purana.
Andhak
One of Bali’s ancestors, Prahlad, was a very pious child even though he was born in the Demon race. In the earlier Narasimha Avatar Vishnu had slain Prahlad’s evil father, Hiranyakashipu, and crowned Prahlad as king. But Prahlad was not meant to rule. He appointed Andhak as king and went to the Himalayas to serve the sages Nara and Narayan. Andhak was the son of Hiranyaksha, Hiranyakashipu’s elder brother who was killed by Vishnu in the Varaha Avatar. Andhak, as his name suggests, was blind but his sight was restored so that he could rule.
On becoming king, Andhak practiced severe austerities to please Shiva. From Shiva he obtained the boons that he could not be killed either by the Devas or the Asuras. Thus empowered he defeated all the kings on earth and even defeated the Devas in a fierce battle. He became the supreme ruler of the world with his capital at Ashmaka in the underworld.
Andhak and Parvati
Once Andhak saw the Goddess Parvati and fell in love with her. Sure of his invincibility he tried to take her by force. Parvati however created a hundred identical images of herself and Andhak was unable to discern who was the real Parvati. In this confusion Parvati escaped.
But Andhak was bent on marrying Parvati. It was then Prahlad returned from the Himalayas to tell Andhak the story of his birth. Hiranyaksha was childless and prayed to Shiva for a son. As Shiva was about to grant him the boon, Parvati arrived and in a playful mood she covered Shiva’s eyes. Hence Andhak was born blind. However Hiranyaksha always maintained that Andhak was the son of Shiva and Parvati and was adopted by him. Therefore, Prahlad explained to Andhak that Parvati was his mother and it was immoral to desire her.
Andhak’s Defeat
Andhak attacked Shiva with a mighty army. However Shiva’s army was stronger and the Asuras began to suffer casualties. But Shukracharya knew the art of mritsanjivni, or bringing people to life. He restored the Demons as soon as they died. Therefore Shiva swallowed Shukracharya for the duration of the battle, which lasted for 2,800 years. Finally the duel between Andhak and Shiva took place and Shiva speared Andhak on his trident and held him aloft. Andhak asked for forgiveness and Shiva included him among his followers.
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