[Advaita-l] Bali Pratipada

[KAMESWARARAO MULA]

Dear Friends,                         Balipadyami: It  is the day on which 'Bali' is worshiped.Following Deepavali, there is a story, WhenVishnu was born as vamana (the dwarf), he crushed Bali into the under world.Then Prahlada, the grandfather of Bali pleaded Vishnu to pardon Bali. Then Baliwas made the king of the under world. On Bali's request, Vishnu granted a boonthat people on earth would remember him and would worship him.
 
There is also a story to tell that on Balipadyami 'Gambling' (Judam)should be played. Once on this padyami day, Shiva and Parvathi played the dicegame. Shiva lost to Parvathi. Kumaraswami then played dice with Parvathi andwon. Then Lord Ganesh played with Lord Kumaraswami and won. Since then, it hasbeen customary for the family to be involved in gambling on this day. Farmerscelebrate this day in a different way. They perform puja to cow, and is knownas Gouramma puja. This ritual is being followed still in Tamilnadu. It iscelebrated in the name of ‘Goverdhan Puja’ in Northern India as Krishna lifedthe ‘Goverdhan Pravat’ with a single finger and saved all his followers under thatfrom enemies.

 Kameswara Rao Dr. M.Kameswara RaoSenior Scientist, P&T Division,Defence Research & Development Establishment, Ministry of Defence, Govt of IndiaJhansi Road, Gwalior-474002,IndiaPh 91-(0)751-2390368(0) Imp Note:The information contained in this electronic message and any attachments to this message are intended for the exclusive use of the addressee(s) and may contain proprietary, confidential or privileged information. If you are not the intended recipient, you should not disseminate, distribute or copy this e-mail. Please notify the sender immediately and destroy all copies of this message and any attachments if any.