title: Alexei Kosygin

text: Kosygin initiated another economic reform in 1973 with the intentions of weakening the central Ministries and giving more powers to the regional authorities in republican and local-levels. The reform's failure to meet Kosygin's goal led to its cancellation. However, the reform succeeded in creating "associations", an organization representing various enterprises. The last significant reform undertaken by the pre-"perestroika" leadership was initiated by Kosygin's fifth government in a joint decision of the Central Committee and the Council of Ministers. The "Improving planning and reinforcing the effects of the economic mechanism on raising the effectiveness in production and improving the quality of work", more commonly known as the 1979 reform. The reform, in contrast to the 1965 reform, was intended to increase the central government's economic involvement by enhancing the duties and responsibilities of the ministries. Due to Kosygin's resignation in 1980, and because of Nikolai Tikhonov's conservative approach to economics, very little of the reform was actually implemented.


title: Alexei Kosygin

text: By the early to mid-1970s Brezhnev had established a strong enough power base to effectively become leader. According to historian Ilya Zemtsov, the author of "Chernenko: The Last Bolshevik: The Soviet Union on the Eve of Perestroika", Kosygin "began to lose power" with the 24th Party Congress in 1971 which for the first time publicized the formula 'the Politburo led by Brezhnev'". Along with weakening Kosygin's position, Brezhnev moved to strengthen the Party's hold on the Government apparatus, weakening Kosygin's position further. Historian Robert Wesson, the author of "Lenin's Legacy: The Story of the CPSU", notes that Kosygin's economic report to the 25th Party Congress "pointed even more clearly to the end of struggle" between Brezhnev and Kosygin. Kosygin was further pushed aside when Brezhnev published his memoirs, which stated that Brezhnev, not Kosygin, was in charge of all major economic decisions. To make matters worse for Kosygin, Brezhnev blocked any future talks on economic reform within the party and government apparatus, and information regarding the reform of 1965 was suppressed.


title: Alexei Kosygin

text: Brezhnev consolidated his own position over the Government Apparatus by strengthening Podgorny's position as Chairman of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet, literally head of state, by giving the office some of the functions of the Premier. The 1977 Soviet Constitution strengthened Podgorny's control of the Council of Ministers, by giving the post of head of state some executive powers. In fact, because of the 1977 Soviet Constitution, the Council of Ministers became subordinate to the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet. When Podgorny was replaced as head of state in 1977 by Brezhnev, Kosygin's role in day-to-day management of government activities was lessened drastically, through Brezhnev's new-found post. Rumours started circulating within the top circles, and on the streets, that Kosygin would retire due to bad health.


title: Alexei Kosygin

text: Brezhnev's consolidation of power weakened Kosygin's influence and prestige within the Politburo. Kosygin's position was gradually weakened during the 1970s and he was frequently hospitalized. On several occasions Kiril Mazurov, the First Deputy chairman of the Council of Ministers, had to act on his behalf. Kosygin suffered his first heart attack in 1976. After this incident, it is said that Kosygin changed from having a vibrant personality to being tired and fed up; he, according to people close to him, seemed to have lost the will to continue his work. He twice filed a letter of resignation between 1976 and 1980, but was turned down on both occasions. During Kosygin's sick leave, Brezhnev appointed Nikolai Tikhonov to the post of First Deputy Chairman of the Council of Ministers. Tikhonov, as with Brezhnev, was a conservative, and through his post as First Deputy chairman Tikhonov was able to reduce Kosygin to a standby role. At a Central Committee plenum in June 1980, the Soviet economic development plan was outlined by Tikhonov, not Kosygin. The powers of the Premier diminished to the point where Kosygin was forced to discuss all decisions made by the Council of Ministers with Brezhnev.


title: Alexei Kosygin

text: Kosygin was hospitalized in October 1980; during his stay he wrote a brief letter of resignation; the following day he was deprived of all government protection, communication, and luxury goods he had earned during his political life. Kosygin died on 18 December 1980 in Moscow, none of his Politburo colleagues, former aides, or security guards visited him. At the end of his life, Kosygin feared the complete failure of the Eleventh Five-Year Plan (1981–1985), saying that the sitting leadership was reluctant to reform the stagnant Soviet economy. His funeral was postponed for three days, as Kosygin died on the eve of Brezhnev's birthday, and the day of Stalin's. Kosygin was praised by Brezhnev as an individual who "laboured selflessly for the good of the Soviet state". A state funeral was conducted and Kosygin was honoured by his peers; Brezhnev, Yuri Andropov, and Tikhonov laid an urn containing his ashes at the Kremlin Wall Necropolis.


title: Alexei Kosygin

text: Compared to other Soviet officials, Kosygin stood out as a pragmatic and relatively independent leader. In a description given by an anonymous high-ranking GRU official, Kosygin is described as "a lonely and somewhat tragic figure" who "understood our faults and shortcomings of our situation in general and those in our Middle East policy in particular, but, being a highly restrained man, he preferred to be cautious." An anonymous former co-worker of Kosygin said "He always had an opinion of his own, and defended it. He was a very alert man, and performed brilliantly during negotiations. He was able to cope quickly with the material that was totally new to him. I have never seen people of that calibre afterwards."


title: Alexei Kosygin

text: Canadian Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau said Kosygin was like "Khrushchev without the rough edges, a fatherly man who was the forerunner of Mikhail Gorbachev". He noted that Kosygin was willing to discuss issues so long as the Soviet position was not tackled head-on. Former United States Secretary of State Henry A. Kissinger said that Kosygin was devoted, nearly fanatically, to his work. Kosygin was viewed by Western diplomats as a pragmatist "with a glacial exterior who was orthodox if not rigid". Andrei Sakharov, a Soviet dissident, believed Kosygin to be "the most intelligent and toughest man in the Politburo". Singapore Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew remembered Kosygin as "very quiet-spoken, but very determined, mind of great ability and application". David Rockefeller admits that Soviet Prime Minister Kosygin was a talented manager doing miracles in ruling the clumsy Soviet economy.


title: Alexei Kosygin

text: Kosygin would prove to be a very competent administrator, with the Soviet standard of living rising considerably due to his moderately reformist policy. Kosygin's moderate 1965 reform, as with Nikita Khrushchev's thaw, radicalized the Soviet reform movement. While Leonid Brezhnev was content to maintain the centralized structure of the Soviet planned economy, Kosygin attempted to revitalize the ailing economic system by decentralising management. Following Brezhnev's death in 1982, the reform movement was split between Yuri Andropov's path of discipline and control and Gorbachev's liberalization of all aspects of public life.


title: Alexei Kosygin

text: "Chernenko: The Last Bolshevik: The Soviet Union on the Eve of Perestroika" author Ilya Zemtsov describes Kosygin as "determined and intelligent, an outstanding administrator" and claims he distinguished himself from the other members of the Soviet leadership with his "extraordinary capacity for work". Historians Moshe Lewin and Gregory Elliott, the authors of "The Soviet Century", describe him as a "phenomenal administrator". "His strength", David Law writes, was "his exceptional capability as an administrator". According to Law Kosygin proved himself to be a "competent politician" also. Historians Evan Mawdsley and Stephen White claim that Brezhnev was unable to remove Kosygin because his removal would mean the loss of his last "capable administrator". In their book, "The Unknown Stalin", Roy Medvedev and Zhores Medvedev called Kosygin an "outstanding organizer", and the "new Voznesensky". Historian Archie Brown, the author "The Rise & Fall of Communism", believes the 1965 Soviet economic reform to have been too "modest", and claimed that Kosygin "was too much a product of the Soviet ministerial system, as it evolved under Stalin, to become a radical economic reformer". However, Brown does believe that Kosygin was "an able administrator". Gvishiani, a Russian historian, concluded that "Kosygin survived both Stalin and Khrushchev, but did not manage to survive Brezhnev."


title: Alexei Kosygin

text: Kosygin was viewed with sympathy by the Soviet people, and is still presently viewed as an important figure in both Russian and Soviet history. Because of Kosygin's popularity among the Soviet people, Brezhnev developed a "strong jealousy" for Kosygin, according to Nikolai Egorychev. Mikhail Smirtyukov, the former Executive Officer of the Council of Ministers, recalled that Kosygin refused to go drinking with Brezhnev, a move which annoyed Brezhnev gravely. Nikolai Ryzhkov, the last Chairman of the Council of Ministers, in a speech to the Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union in 1987 referred to the "sad experiences of the 1965 reform", and claimed that everything went from bad to worse following the reform's cancellation.


title: Alexei Kosygin

text: During his lifetime, Kosygin received seven Orders and two Awards from the Soviet state. He was awarded two Hero of Socialist Labour (USSR); one being on his 60th birthday by the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet in 1964, on this occasion he was also awarded an Order of Lenin and a Hammer and Sickle Gold Medal. On 20 February 1974, to commemorate his 70th birthday, the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet awarded him another Order of Lenin and his second Hammer and Sickle Gold Medal. In total, Kosygin was awarded six Orders of Lenin by the Soviet state, and one Order of the October Revolution and one Order of the Red Banner of Labour. During a state visit to Peru in the 1970s with Leonid Brezhnev and Andrei Gromyko, all three were awarded the Grand Cross of the Order of the Sun by President Francisco Morales Bermúdez. The Moscow State Textile University was named in his honour in 1981, in 1982 a bust to honour Kosygin was placed in Leningrad, present day Saint Petersburg. In 2006 the Russian Government renamed a street after him.


title: Malay styles and titles

text: The Malay language has a complex system of styles, titles and honorifics which are used extensively in Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, and the southern Philippines.


title: Malay styles and titles

text: Brunei, Malaysia, Singapore and several provinces in Indonesia regularly award honorary and life titles. What follows in this article is specific to the Malaysian system. References to Brunei and Indonesia are given when pertinent.


title: Malay styles and titles

text: In Malaysia, all non-hereditary titles can be granted to both men and women. Every title has a form which can be used by the wife of the title holder. This form is not used by the husband of a titled woman; such a woman will bear a title which is the same as a titled man.


title: Malay styles and titles

text: Singapore, whose Malay royalty was abolished by the British colonial government in 1891, has adopted civic titles for its leaders.


title: Malay styles and titles

text: The Philippines historically used Malay titles during its pre-Hispanic period (especially under Bruneian influence), as evidenced by the titles of historical figures such as Rajah Sulayman, Lakandula and Dayang Kalangitan. Malay titles are still used by the royal houses of Sulu, Maguindanao, Buayan, and Maranao on the southern Philippine island of Mindanao, but these are retained on a traditional basis, as the 1987 Constitution explicitly reaffirms the abolition of royal and noble titles in the republic.


title: Malay styles and titles

text: Indonesia, meanwhile, as a republic, does not recognize hereditary rulers and aristocratic systems. Nevertheless, their royal titles and honors are still used as courtesy titles.


title: Malay styles and titles

text: The sequence that should be used when formally writing or addressing a person's name is: honorary style, professional rank, royal hereditary title, federal title, state title, non-royal hereditary title, Doctor (of medicine or philosophy), Haji/Hajah (for Muslim men and women who have performed the Hajj), name.


title: Malay styles and titles

text: For instance in Brunei, the title for one of Bruneian traditional ministers (Pehin-Pehin Cheteria) whose honorary title would be "Yang Berhormat", profession rank is "Pehin Orang Kaya Seri Lela", state title is "Dato Seri Setia" and traditional Bruneian Malay prefix title for non-royalty is "Awang". An example would be "Yang Berhormat Pehin Orang Kaya Seri Lela Dato Seri Setia Awang Haji Abdul Rahman bin Dato Setia Haji Mohamed Taib"


title: Malay styles and titles

text: When in the home state, the state title may precede the federal title. An example is the current Premier of Sarawak, Abang Abdul Rahman Zohari Abang Openg, whose federal title is "Tan Sri" and whose state title is "Datuk Patinggi". His title will be expressed as either:


title: Malay styles and titles

text: Another exception is when a person has received an award from a state other than the person's home state; when visiting the award-bestowing state, that state's title will take the place of a home state's title (if any). As an example, the current Prime Minister, Anwar Ibrahim will be titled as follows:


title: Malay styles and titles

text: A style carried by virtue of royal title always trumps those carried by non-royal titles. Male royals may choose to append "al-Haj" to their name instead of using "Haji". The following example is correct:


title: Malay styles and titles

text: The following titles are hereditary and reserved for royal families of the royal families of Brunei and nine royal states of Malaysia. Brunei is the only absolute monarchy left in the Malay's world and the monarchy has the power in the government.


title: Malay styles and titles

text: The following styles and official titles are used for members of the royal house in Brunei. As Brunei is an absolute monarchy, it is important to address royal family members with the correct title. Improper usage may cause discomfort:


title: Malay styles and titles

text: The Sultan and the Queen of Brunei are styled as "Kebawah Duli Yang Maha Mulia Paduka Seri Baginda" (KDYMM PSB) (literally "his/her most glorious majesty who is raised most high");


title: Malay styles and titles

text: For those who have blood-ties with the royal family who are married, styled as "Prince" or "Princess" in English, and given the hereditary honorific prefix "Pengiran":


title: Malay styles and titles

text: Exclusive royal titles for the descendant of Princess Norehsani, the only surviving female heir of the 26th Sultan of Brunei, Ahmad Tajuddin, the uncle of the current Sovereign Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah;


title: Malay styles and titles

text: A person who marries a distant member of the royal family (ie: Pengiran) is given the title Pengiran Anak; the title is lost if they divorce.


title: Malay styles and titles

text: According to the Royal Custom (Adat Istiadat), the title of "Pengiran" will be given to at least 5 five generations of "Pengiran Anak" descendants (grandchildren, great-grandchildren and great-great-grandchildren) and they will no longer use the "Pengiran Anak" titles.


title: Malay styles and titles

text: The unmarried children of "Pengiran" are style as "Awangku" for males and "Dayangku" for females. Not to be confused with Brunei's equivalent of Mr. (Awang) and Ms. (Dayang), which applies to everyone with no royal titles.


title: Malay styles and titles

text: In Malaysia, the "Yang di-Pertuan Agong" (King of Malaysia) grants honours to recipients nominated by the Government of Malaysia as awards which are honorary and non-hereditary. These honours may also be revoked by the "Yang di-Pertuan Agong" or returned by the individual. Some of the highest honours bestowed carries with them the titles of "Tun", "Tan Sri" or "Datuk".


title: Malay styles and titles

text: There is a maximum number of Malaysian subjects who may be award-holders at any one time. These numerical limits apply only to Malaysian subjects. Foreigners may be awarded such titles in a supernumerary and honorary capacity and may use the title locally.


title: Malay styles and titles

text: The "Tun" title has existed in Malaysian society for hundreds of years. In ancient times, "Tun" was an honorific title used by noble people of royal lineage, inherited by the male descendants. Over time, the "Tun" title has become a title conferred by the Yang di-Pertuan Agong to the most-deserving recipient who has highly contributed to the nation.


title: Malay styles and titles

text: "Tun" is the most senior federal title awarded to recipients of either the "Seri Maharaja Mangku Negara" (Grand Commander of the Order of the Defender of the Realm) (SMN) or "Seri Setia Mahkota" (Grand Commander of the Order of Loyalty to the Crown of Malaysia) (SSM). However, the SMN and SSM are not the highest federal awards, ranking fourth and fifth, respectively. There may not be more than 25 (SMN) and 35 (SSM) living holders of each of these awards respectively at any one time. The title for the wife of a "Tun" is called "Toh Puan". The recipients and their wives are then bestowed with the style of "Yang Amat Berbahagia" or (The Most Felicitous).


title: Malay styles and titles

text: The SMN is usually awarded to newly appointed "Yang di-Pertua Negeri" (YDPN) and to all the retired Prime Ministers of Malaysia with the exception of Tunku Abdul Rahman (He is the Prince of the state of Kedah), Najib Razak, Muhyiddin Yassin and Ismail Sabri Yaakob. The most senior state titles of "Dato Seri Utama" and "Datuk Seri Utama" are of equivalent rank with Tun.


title: Malay styles and titles

text: "Tan Sri" is the second-most senior federal title and a honorific used to denote recipients of the "Panglima Mangku Negara" (Commander of the Order of the Defender of the Realm) (PMN) and the "Panglima Setia Mahkota" (Commander of the Order of Loyalty to the Crown of Malaysia) (PSM). The wife of a "Tan Sri" is called "Puan Sri". The recipients and their wives are then bestowed with the style of "Yang Berbahagia" or (The Felicitous). State title "Dato Sri" and "Dato Seri" share equivalent rank with Tan Sri.


title: Malay styles and titles

text: "Datuk" is a federal title that has been conferred since 1965. It is limited to recipients of "Panglima Jasa Negara" (Commander of the Order of Meritorious Service) (PJN) and "Panglima Setia Diraja" (Commander of the Order of Loyalty to the Royal Family of Malaysia) (PSD). There may be up to 200 living PJN holders and 200 living PSD holders at any one time. The wife of a "Datuk" is called a "Datin". The recipients and their wives are then bestowed with the style of "Yang Berbahagia" (The Felicitous).


title: Malay styles and titles

text: In Malaysia, state honours are awarded by the respective heads of the thirteen states. Such titles are honorary and non-hereditary. State titles may be revoked or suspended by the head of state or may be returned by the individual. Dato' Sri or Dato' Seri (sometimes Dato’ is spelled and pronounced Datuk in some states) is the highest state title conferred by the Ruler on the most deserving recipients who have contributed greatly to the nation or state. It ranks below the federal title Tun and is an honour equivalent to federal title Tan Sri. The wife of a recipient is Datin Sri or Datin Seri. In many cases, the number of Malaysian nationals who may hold a state title or honour at one time is limited. Such limits do not apply to foreigners.


title: Malay styles and titles

text: This title is mainly used in Brunei. An example of the title in Brunei would be Pehin Orang Kaya Laila Setia Bakti Di-Raja Dato Laila Utama Haji Awang Isa, the former Minister of Home Affairs and the current Special Adviser to the Sultan of Brunei. The titles refers to the traditional ministers posts in Brunei.


title: Malay styles and titles

text: This title is mainly used in Sarawak. Awarded to individuals who have been appointed as Yang di-Pertua Negeri of Sarawak or equivalent or higher. An example of the title in Sarawak would be Tun Pehin Sri Haji Abdul Taib Mahmud, Yang di-Pertua Negeri of Sarawak.


title: Malay styles and titles

text: This title is mainly used in Malacca. Awarded to individuals who have been appointed as Yang di-Pertua Negeri of Malacca or equivalent or higher. An example of the title in Malacca would be Tun Seri Setia (Dr.) Haji Mohd Ali Rustam, Yang di-Pertua Negeri of Malacca.


title: Malay styles and titles

text: Justice of Peace (JP) ranks below all "Dato" or "Datuk". In Malaysia, Justices of Peace have largely been replaced in magistrates' courts by legally-qualified (first-class) stipendiary magistrates. However, state governments continue to appoint Justices of Peace as honours. In 2004, some associations of JPs pressed the federal government to allow JPs to sit as second-class magistrates to reduce the backlog of cases in the courts.


title: Malay styles and titles

text: If a person has been awarded several honours from different states, the title used varies. For example, sometimes former Prime Minister, Mahathir Mohamad is usually referred to as "YABhg Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamad" anywhere in Malaysia. However, different terms of address "may" be used in the states that he visits.


title: Malay styles and titles

text: In Sarawak, he will be referred to as "YABhg Tun Pehin Sri Mahathir Mohamad" as he received the Knight Grand Commander of the Order of the Star of Sarawak (SBS) from the Yang di-Pertua Negeri of Sarawak.


title: Malay styles and titles

text: While in Sabah, he is referred to as "Tun Datuk Seri Panglima Dr. Mahathir Mohamad", as he received the Grand Commander of the Order of Kinabalu (SPDK) from the Yang di-Pertua Negeri of Sabah.


title: Malay styles and titles

text: The following are used as styles, both before a person's title and by themselves as forms of address:


title: Malay styles and titles

text: The English versions of these styles follow British usage. Thus the prime minister, cabinet ministers, senators, state executive councillors and judges of the High Court and above are styled the Honourable or the Right Honourable, although technically it is a solecism to style the prime minister or heads of courts Right Honourable as they are not members of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom.


title: Malay styles and titles

text: Not all "Datuk"s have lived exemplary lives and some have been convicted of crimes. The various rulers have recently taken steps to ensure the integrity of the institution by means of consultation and the revoking of the given titles.


title: Malay styles and titles

text: Mahathir Mohamad mentioned that one of the problems with titles in Malaysia is the numbers of them given out. He stated in an interview "Personally, I feel if you want to give value to anything, it must be limited...if you produce a million Ferrari cars, nobody will care about buying a Ferrari."


title: Malay styles and titles

text: The Sultan Nazrin Shah of Perak, stated "That is my view. You degrade the award and the Ruler has the right to revoke it. In my opinion, it should be taken away." He also stated that "Sometimes, I think we give away too many datukships...it dilutes and devalues the award."


title: Malay styles and titles

text: In the first government following the independence of Malaya in 1957, 5 of 15 cabinet Ministers were Datuks. The Minister of Finance of Malaysia at the time, Tan Siew Sin, held the title Justice of Peace. Later, he was granted a Federal award which carried the title "Tun". The father of Malayan independence, Tunku Abdul Rahman Putra Al-Haj, received no awards and carried the title "Tunku", which he inherited as the prince of the state of Kedah. He was honorarily referred to as "Yang Teramat Mulia" (YTM). The Senate held only 14 "Datuk"s and House of Representatives held only 7.


title: Malay styles and titles

text: The Malacca government was criticised for awarding the "Datuk" title to a non-Malaysian Indian actor, Shah Rukh Khan, for making movies and promoting the Malacca state internationally.


title: Peter Drury

text: Peter Drury (born 24 September 1967) is a British sports commentator who currently works for NBC Sports as the lead main (play-by-play) commentator for its Premier League coverage in the United States.


title: Peter Drury

text: Prior to joining NBC Sports, Drury was the lead main (play-by-play) commentator for Premier League Productions.


title: Peter Drury

text: Drury continues to freelance for Amazon Prime Video for its Premier League coverage in the United Kingdom, for BT Sport on coverage of the UEFA Europa League and UEFA Europa Conference League, for Host Broadcast Services (HBS) for the English-language world feed of the men's FIFA World Cup and for Gravity Media for the English-language world feed of the men's UEFA European Championship.


title: Peter Drury

text: Drury freelanced for CBS Sports (US) on its English-language coverage of UEFA Champions League and the Europa League in 2020-2022. He had also freelanced with Pitch International for the English-language world feed of the EFL Cup through 2022.


title: Peter Drury

text: Drury was formerly with ITV Sport (UK) as its second-choice football commentator, a role he had held from 1998 to 2013.


title: Peter Drury

text: Drury was born on 24 September 1967 in England. His father was a Church of England vicar based in Kent. The first club he supported as a four-year-old was West Ham United, but he has since gone on to support different clubs, most notably Watford as he now lives in Hertfordshire. He went to St John's School, Leatherhead in Surrey. While growing up, Drury's commentary idol was BBC Radio's Peter Jones, who Drury describes as having a "beautiful, authoritative, and poetic voice". When he was 18 and he used to see Hull City matches, he was usually the first man at Boothferry Park a couple of hours before the other spectators came flooding in. He worked as an accountant for a period of one month after graduating from university. Before joining BBC Radio Leeds, he worked for sports journalism agency Hayter's.


title: Peter Drury

text: In March 1990, Drury got a job with BBC Radio Leeds and he was there at a time when Leeds were champions of the Football League First Division in the 1991–92 season. His early works with Radio Leeds included matches involving Halifax Town, Bradford City and Huddersfield Town. He also commentated on both legs of Leeds United's UEFA Champions League first round tie with VfB Stuttgart in September 1992, in which after coming back from a 3–0 first-leg deficit to win 4–1, he remarked that their fans were 'proud as punch' of Howard Wilkinson's team and they were to be eliminated on away goals, but it went into a play-off which they won 2–1 on 9 October. He soon moved to Five Live following its launch on 28 March 1994. His credits include the 1996 UEFA Champions League Final (alongside future ITV colleague Jon Champion) and UEFA Euro 96, where he covered Group D matches involving Portugal and Turkey. In 1997, he also commentated on The Open Championship and the Ryder Cup with 5 Live.


title: Peter Drury

text: Drury later moved on to Broadcasting House in London at the start of 1997–98 season where he got an opportunity to cover matches of the day including the third match which was Everton vs Sheffield Wednesday on Saturday 4 October 1997 at Hillsborough Stadium.


title: Peter Drury

text: He then joined ITV in February 1998 and his first match for the network was a replay of an FA Cup sixth round tie between Sheffield United and Coventry City on 17 March. After finishing 1–1 in both the original and replay matches, the Blades came out victorious, winning 3–1 on penalties. He was immediately selected to be part of the commentary team as their junior correspondent for the 1998 FIFA World Cup in France, replacing John Helm. During his 15 years with ITV, Drury commentated on four World Cups (1998–2010) and four European Championship tournaments (2000–2012). He also commentated on the UEFA Champions League, UEFA Cup / Europa League, ITV's 'The Premiership' (coverage of the English Premier League between 2001 and 2004) and the This is Football video game series, starting with "2 (2000)". Other than football, he presented The Boat Race, as well as snooker tournaments such as the short-lived Nations Cup.


title: Peter Drury

text: Drury commentated on the 2014 FIFA World Cup final match between Germany and Argentina on 13 July 2014 at the Maracanã Stadium. In 2013, he joined BT Sport for their coverage of the Premier League, FA Cup, UEFA Champions League and UEFA Europa League. In 2015, Drury replaced Jon Champion as the primary commentator in the "Pro Evolution Soccer" video game series, starting with "Pro Evolution Soccer 2016", having also narrated Sony's "This Is Football" series earlier. During the 2014 FIFA World Cup and the 2018 FIFA World Cup, he commentated on matches for FIFA's international feed and its YouTube channel, including the final between France and Croatia. Drury has covered most of the Premier League matches alongside co-commentator Jim Beglin, whom he has worked with since 1995 including his early work with 5 live. Drury insists that viewers normally tune in to watch the match and not because of both of them. He signed with SuperSport in 2019. Drury joined CBS Sports (USA) for its UEFA Champions League and UEFA Europa League coverage in August 2020, as the co-#1 play-by-play commentator (alternating with former ITV colleague Clive Tyldesley).


title: Peter Drury

text: On 31 May 2022, following the conclusion of the 2021–22 season, Drury announced that he had left Premier League Productions, but would continue to commentate on the Premier League into next season after joining NBC Sports, replacing Arlo White (who was then signed by LIV Golf) as their lead play-by-play commentator. His position was confirmed on 6 July 2022.


title: Peter Drury

text: Drury has been famed for his expressive and extremely literate style of commentary. He is known for his poetic style of commentary, often using phrases such as "in a trice" instead of common language.


title: Hoosier

text: Hoosier is the official demonym for the people of the U.S. state of Indiana. The origin of the term remains a matter of debate, but "Hoosier" was in general use by the 1840s, having been popularized by Richmond resident John Finley's 1833 poem "The Hoosier's Nest". Anyone born in Indiana or a resident at the time is considered to be a Hoosier. Indiana adopted the nickname "The Hoosier State" more than 150 years ago.


title: Hoosier

text: "Hoosier" is used in the names of numerous Indiana-based businesses and organizations. "Hoosiers" is also the name of the Indiana University athletic teams. As there is no accepted embodiment of a Hoosier, the IU schools are represented through their letters and colors alone. In addition to universal acceptance by residents of Indiana, the term is also the official demonym according to the U.S. Government Publishing Office.


title: Hoosier

text: In addition to "The Hoosier's Nest", the term also appeared in the "Indianapolis Journal"<nowiki>'</nowiki>s "Carrier's Address" on January 1, 1833. There are many suggestions for the derivation of the word but none is universally accepted. In 1833 the Pittsburgh "Statesman" said the term had been in use for "some time past" and suggested it originated from census workers calling "Who's here?". Also in 1833, former Indiana Governor James B. Ray began publishing a newspaper titled "The Hoosier".


title: Hoosier

text: In 1900, Meredith Nicholson wrote "The Hoosiers", an early attempt to study the etymology of the word as applied to Indiana residents. Jacob Piatt Dunn, longtime secretary of the Indiana Historical Society, published "The Word Hoosier", a similar attempt, in 1907. Both chronicled some of the popular and satirical etymologies circulating at the time and focused much of their attention on the use of the word in the Upland South to refer to woodsmen, yokels, and rough people. Dunn traced the word back to the Cumbrian , meaning anything unusually large, derived from the Old English "hoo" (as at Sutton Hoo), meaning "high" and "hill". The importance of immigrants from northern England and southern Scotland was reflected in numerous placenames including the Cumberland Mountains, the Cumberland River, and the Cumberland Gap. Nicholson defended the people of Indiana against such an association, while Dunn concluded that the early settlers had adopted the nickname self-mockingly and that it had lost its negative associations by the time of Finley's poem.


title: Hoosier

text: Johnathan Clark Smith subsequently showed that Nicholson and Dunn's earliest sources within Indiana were mistaken. A letter by James Curtis cited by Dunn and others as the earliest known use of the term was actually written in 1846, not 1826. Similarly, the use of the term in an 1859 newspaper item quoting an 1827 diary entry by Sandford Cox was more likely an editorial comment and not from the original diary. Smith's earliest sources led him to argue that the word originated as a term along the Ohio River for flatboatmen from Indiana and did not acquire its pejorative meanings until 1836, "after" Finley's poem.


title: Hoosier

text: William Piersen, a history professor at Fisk University, argued for a connection to the Methodist minister Rev. Harry Hosier (–May 1806), who evangelized the American frontier at the beginning of the 19th century as part of the Second Great Awakening. "Black Harry" had been born a slave in North Carolina and sold north to Baltimore, Maryland, before gaining his freedom and beginning his ministry around the end of the American Revolution. He was a close associate and personal friend of Bishop Francis Asbury, the "Father of the American Methodist Church". Benjamin Rush said of him that "making allowances for his illiteracy, he was the greatest orator in America". His sermons called on Methodists to reject slavery and to champion the common working man. Piersen proposed that Methodist communities inspired by his example took or were given a variant spelling of his name (possibly influenced by the "yokel" slang) during the decades after his ministry.


title: Hoosier

text: According to Washington County newspaper reports of the time, Abraham Stover was Colonel of the Indiana Militia. He was a colorful figure in early Washington County history. Along with his son-in-law, John B. Brough, he was considered one of the two strongest men in Washington County. He was always being challenged to prove his might, and seems to have won several fights over men half his age. After whipping six or eight men in a fist fight in Louisville, Kentucky, he cracked his fists and said, "Ain't I a husher", which was changed in the news to "Hoosier", and thus originated the name of Hoosier in connection with Indiana men.


title: Hoosier

text: Jorge Santander Serrano, a PhD student from Indiana University, has also suggested that "Hoosier" might come from the French words for 'redness', , or 'red-faced', . According to this hypothesis, the early pejorative use of the word "Hoosier" may have a link to the color red ("rouge" in French) which is associated with indigenous peoples, pejoratively called "red men" or "red-skins", and also with poor white people by calling them "red-necks".


title: Hoosier

text: Humorous folk etymologies for the term "hoosier" have a long history, as recounted by Dunn in "The Word Hoosier".


title: Hoosier

text: One account traces the word to the necessary caution of approaching houses on the frontier. In order to avoid being shot, a traveler would call out from afar to let themselves be known. The inhabitants of the cabin would then reply "Who's here?" which in the Appalachian English of the early settlers slurred into "Who'sh 'ere?" and thence into "Hoosier?" A variant of this account had the Indiana pioneers calling out "Who'sh 'ere?" as a general greeting and warning when hearing someone in the bushes and tall grass, to avoid shooting a relative or friend in error.


title: Hoosier

text: The poet James Whitcomb Riley facetiously suggested that the fierce brawling that took place in Indiana involved enough biting that the expression "Whose ear?" became notable. This arose from or inspired the story of two 19th-century French immigrants brawling in a tavern in the foothills of southern Indiana. One was cut and a third Frenchman walked in to see an ear on the dirt floor of the tavern, prompting him to slur out "Whosh ear?"


title: Hoosier

text: Two related stories trace the origin of the term to gangs of workers from Indiana under the direction of a Mr. Hoosier.


title: Hoosier

text: The account related by Dunn is that a Louisville contractor named Samuel Hoosier preferred to hire workers from communities on the Indiana side of the Ohio River like New Albany rather than Kentuckians. During the excavation of the first canal around the Falls of the Ohio from 1826 to 1833, his employees became known as "Hoosier's men" and then simply "Hoosiers". The usage spread from these hard-working laborers to all of the Indiana boatmen in the area and then spread north with the settlement of the state. The story was told to Dunn in 1901 by a man who had heard it from a Hoosier relative while traveling in southern Tennessee. Dunn could not find any family of the given name in any directory in the region or anyone else in southern Tennessee who had heard the story and accounted himself dubious. This version was subsequently retold by Gov. Evan Bayh and Sen. Vance Hartke, who introduced the story into the "Congressional Record" in 1975, and matches the timing and location of Smith's subsequent research. However, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has been unable to find any record of a Hoosier or Hosier in surviving canal company records.


title: Hoosier

text: The word "hoosier" has long been used in Greater St. Louis as a pejorative for an unintelligent or uncultured person. The word is also encountered in sea shanties. In the book "Shanties from the Seven Seas" by Stan Hugill, in reference to its former use to denote cotton-stowers, who would move bales of cotton to and from the holds of ships and force them in tightly by means of jackscrews.


title: Hoosier

text: A Hoosier cabinet, often shortened to "hoosier", is a type of free-standing kitchen cabinet popular in the early decades of the twentieth century. Almost all of these cabinets were produced by companies located in Indiana and the name derives from the largest of them, the Hoosier Manufacturing Co. of New Castle, Indiana. Other Indiana businesses include Hoosier Racing Tire and the Hoosier Bat Company, manufacturer of wooden baseball bats.


title: Hoosier

text: The RCA Dome, former home of the Indianapolis Colts, was known as the "Hoosier Dome" before RCA purchased the naming rights in 1994. The RCA Dome was replaced by Lucas Oil Stadium in 2008.


title: Married at First Sight (Australian season 9)

text: The ninth season of "Married at First Sight" premiered on 31 January 2022 on the Nine Network. Relationship experts John Aiken and Mel Schilling, along with sexologist Alessandra Rampolla all returned from the previous season to match 8 brides and 8 grooms together. Halfway through the experiment, the experts matched another 3 brides and 3 grooms together.


text: During filming, contestant Simon Blackburn was removed from the show after homophobic and misogynistic videos of him surfaced on social media. A petition, signed by over 120,000 fans, called for the E-Safety Commission to look into the behaviour of Olivia Frazer after she shared around a nude photo of fellow bride Domenica Calarco without Domenica's knowledge or consent. In March, the New South Wales Police Force confirmed reports they were investigating an incident involving glass smashing at the couples retreat, as well as the distribution of an image without consent.


title: Down to Earth with Zac Efron

text: Down to Earth with Zac Efron is an American web documentary series that premiered on Netflix on July 10, 2020. It stars Zac Efron and Darin Olien, who also act as executive producers of the series. The documentary revolves around Efron and his travels around the world to France, Puerto Rico, London, Iceland, Costa Rica, Peru, and Sardinia, and focuses on themes of travel, life experience, nature, green energy and sustainable living practices.


title: Down to Earth with Zac Efron

text: For season 1, review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes reported an approval rating of 71% based on 14 reviews, with an average rating of 6.30/10 for the series. The website's critical consensus states, "Zac Efron's earnest exploration certainly comes off as "Down to Earth", but the show's lack of focus undermines its important environmental message." Metacritic gave the series a weighted average score of 60 out of 100 based on 4 reviews, indicating "mixed or average reviews".


title: Down to Earth with Zac Efron

text: Ed Cumming of "The Independent" rated the show two stars out of five, saying "There must be a narrow band of people who care enough about Efron to tune in, but not enough about the environment to find this hopelessly simplistic." At Mashable, Alison Foreman was lukewarm, calling it "a fun enough, silly enough, educational enough trip worth taking if you love Zac or believe you have the capacity to love Zac. But you must love Zac to love "Down to Earth.""


title: Down to Earth with Zac Efron

text: Writing for the McGill Office for Science and Society, Jonathan Jarry argues the show is basically an advertisement for Darin Olien and the pseudoscientific products he espouses, from cancer-preventing superfoods to self-pasteurized raw goat milk. Jarry states that "the show consistently uses genuine ecological concerns to make us accept claims that do not hold water."


title: Down to Earth with Zac Efron

text: Quoting Jarry, as well as Joseph Schwarcz and Timothy Caulfield, Maggie Lange at Vice includes the show in a growing catalogue of Netflix programming promoting questionable health advice and pseudoscience. "What’s most frustrating about this show is not its sprinkles of bunk; the most frustrating thing about this show is that it mixes bunk with earnest reporting."


title: Down to Earth with Zac Efron

text: In "Insider", Lindsay Dodgson writes that "Olien acts as Efron's sidekick and health guru, but much of the supposed science he parrots throughout the series is unverified or disproven", then goes on to list eight health claims made in the series that are in fact wrong.


title: Down to Earth with Zac Efron

text: Emma Baty at "Cosmopolitan" and Daniel Fienberg at "The Hollywood Reporter" both focus on the superficiality of the information presented, with Efron and Olien barely taking the time to express enthusiasm about a topic ("Dude!") before moving on to something else.


title: Down to Earth with Zac Efron

text: Kayla Cobb of "Decider" was more positive, saying the series shows that "Efron was meant to be a travel host", and that he brings "energetic relatability in spades".


title: Down to Earth with Zac Efron

text: A food company named Down to Earth Organics filed a lawsuit with the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York in July, 2022, against Netflix, Darin Olien and Zac Efron. The company, which has no relationship with the television series, alleges its image is damaged by the association viewers might make with its products, given the series spreads misinformation about wellness. The company argues their allegations are supported by the article by the Office for Science and Society, where Jarry characterizes the show as "insidious nonsense".


title: Down to Earth with Zac Efron

text: The company chose to act when a second season of the show was announced, stating it wanted to prevent further damage to its brand. As of July 2022, the allegations have not been proven in court.


title: Vamana

text: Vamana (), also known as Trivikrama (), Urukrama (), Upendra (), Dadhivamana (), and Balibandhana () is an avatar of the Hindu deity Vishnu. He is the fifth avatar of Vishnu, and the first Dashavatara in the Treta Yuga, after Narasimha.


title: Vamana

text: Originating in the Vedas, Vamana is most commonly associated in the Hindu epics and Puranas with the legend of taking back the three worlds (collectively referred to as the "Trailokya") from the daitya-king Bali by taking three steps to restore the cosmic order. He is the youngest among the adityas, the sons of Aditi and the sage Kashyapa.


title: Vamana

text: 'Vāmana' (Sanskrit वामन) means 'dwarf', 'small' or 'small or short in stature'. It also means 'dwarfish bull', which is notable as Vishnu is directly associated with dwarfish animals (including bulls) in the Vedas (see below). Stated in Puranic literature to be born of the great sage Kashyapa and his wife Aditi, other names or epithets referring to Vamana include:


title: Vamana

text: After Indra, the king of the devas, the son of Kashyapa and Aditi, is defeated by the daitya called Bali, the king of the asuras, the great-great grandson of Kashyapa and Diti, the devas ultimately seek refuge in Vishnu, who agrees to restore Indra to power. To do so, Vishnu incarnates as Vamana (the son of Kashyapa and Aditi). The devoted Bali conducts ritual sacrifices (partaken by the asuras, but not the devas under Bali's rule), one of which is attended by Vamana, who requests only three feet (steps) of land (usually to build a fire-altar). Bali agrees, despite being warned about Vamana's true nature as Vishnu (usually by his preceptor, the sage Shukra, a descendant of Bhrigu). Vamana grows in size, and in three strides, encompasses all of existence and beyond. The three worlds are restored to Indra, and Bali and the asuras are banished to Patala, the netherworld.


title: Vamana

text: J. Roy states that the 'Dwarf or Vamana incarnation of Vishnu is purely an Allegory and seems to be a development of the idea of Vishnu's three strides, alluded to repeatedly in the Rigveda. The legend is also found in a more elaborated form in the Shatapatha Brahmana, which refers to the story of Vishnu, the Dwarf growing so large to cover the whole earth for the devas. [In the epics and Puranas] Though the episode of King Bali, associated with [The] Vamana incarnation, makes him appear Anthropomorphic; the allegorical character of his three steps is hardly concealed. His actions maintain the usual functions of an incarnation, which are protection of the righteous, destruction of the wicked, and establishment of dharma'.


title: Vamana

text: A.A. Macdonell states that the 'reason why Visnu took his three steps is a secondary trait. He thrice traversed the earthly spaces for man in distress (6, 49); he traversed the earth to bestow it on man for a dwelling (7, 100); he traversed the earthly spaces for wide-stepping existence (1, 155); with Indra he took vast strides and stretched out the worlds for our existence (6, 69). This feature in the [Rigveda] may ultimately be traced to the myth of Vishnu's dwarf incarnation which appears in the epics and Puranas. The intermediate stage is found in the Brahmanas ([Shatapatha Brahmana] 1, 2, 5; [Taittiriya Samhita] 2, 1, 3; [Taittiriya Brahmana] 1, 6, 1), where Vishnu takes the form of a dwarf, to reclaim the earth for the devas by means of sacrifice.The three points in sun's course: Roy states that 'Vishnu's three strides alluded to in the Rigveda have been variously interpreted as symbolizing the three different positions of the sun at its rising, peak and setting.


title: Vamana

text: The three worlds and the three planes: J. Muir mentions Sayanas take on the three steps of Vishnu found the White Yajurveda (5.15). 'Vishnu, becoming incarnate as Trivikrama (the god who stepped thrice), strode over the whole universe. The same idea is expressed by the Rishis, "In three places he planted his step, (one step on the earth, a second in the atmosphere, and a third in the sky) as Agni, Vayu, and Surya each after the other". Agni (Fire) is found on the ground, Vayu (Air) prevades the atmosphere and Surya(Sun) high in the dome of sky, thus the three steps symbolise the three planes, the ground below, air in between, and the sky above.


title: Vamana

text: Three states of sleep and wakefulness: S Chanda states the three strides symbolize the three states of existence – Jagrat (Awake), Swapna (Dream Sleep) and "sushupti" (Deep Sleep). The final step of Vamana is on the head of Bali which symbolizes Liberation and the transcendence of these states.


title: Vamana

text: Written by the Grammarian Yaska, the Nirukta is one of the six Vedangas or 'limbs of the Vedas', concerned with correct Etymology and interpretation of the Vedas. The entry for Vishnu (relating to the Rigveda) states (square brackets '[ ]' are as per the original author):


title: Vamana

text: This account essentially states that the three footsteps may symbolise the positions of the sun or physical existence conceptualised as 'three worlds'. In regards to the references to Sakapuni and Aurnavabha, K.S. Murty states that 'Yaska was not the first to interpret Vedic words as he did. He referred to a Nighantu with Samamnaya which he cited and explained. He had predecessors like Sakapuru, Audumbarayana, Aupamanyava and others'.


title: Vamana

text: Roy states that the Rigvedic passages referring to Vishnu's three strides are obviously the nucleus, out of which the legend of the Dwarf was created. But the Rigveda, however, does not describe Vishnu as dwarf or "Vamana"'. W.J. Wilkins agrees, stating that in regards to the Vishnu Strides of the Rigveda, 'in these verses there is probably the germ of the Dwarf Incarnation'.


title: Vamana

text: In regards to the above-quoted verses, it is commonly accepted that there are Seven Continents or 'regions of the earth'. A. Glucklich adds that 'In the Matsya Purana, for instance, there is a seven-part map of the world... [it has] one centre, where an immense mountain - Mt. Meru (or Maha Meru, Great Meru) - stands... The continents encircle the mountain in seven concentric circles... It seems clear that the Himalayas were the approximate location of Mt. Meru'.


title: Vamana

text: In regards to the three steps of Vishnu, Glucklich points out that in some legends of Vamana and the Asura-King Bali, that 'the first [Step] covered the entire earth, the second covered the atmosphere, and the third measured heaven in its entirety'. M. Haug, in his translation of the Aitareya Brahmana (1.1.5) of the Rigveda, clarifies that the 'three worlds' often means the Ground (Earth), the Air (Atmosphere), and the Sky (Heavens). Three steps thus encompasses all of physical existence (although in some Puranic accounts Vamana does so in only two steps). D. Goodall also relates more a mystical interpretation of what 'three worlds' symbolises, as provided by the Brihadaranyaka Upanishad, including Mind, Speech, and Breath (see Upanishad section, below).


title: Vamana

text: Notably, Muir also states that although '"Adabhya"' can be translated as 'who cannot be deceived' (as provided by Griffiths, above), it can also be translated as 'the unconquerable preserver', and notes that the 'idea of Vishnu being preeminently the preserver of the universe, which became current in later times [i.e. in the Trimurti], may possibly have been derived from this verse'.


title: Vamana

text: The concept of Vishnu obtaining the three worlds for the Devas from the Asuras in three steps is clearly explained in the Aitareya Brahmana. The Rigveda Samhita verse referred to (6.69.8) regarding Indra and Vishnu battling the Asuras states 'Ye Twain have conquered, ne’er have ye been conquered: never hath either of the Twain been vanquished. Ye, Indra-Vishnu, when ye fought the battle, produced this infinite with three divisions'.


title: Vamana

text: The Maruts, referred to as 'the sons of Rudra' are frequently mentioned throughout the Rigveda, including in relation to the above quotation, producing rain (1.38.7). Indra is the god of rain and as stated in the Aitareya Brahmana, 'rain gives food' (2.5.41; pp. 106). This is elaborated upon in the Aitareya Aranyaka (Aranyaka 2, Adhyaya 3) which states "the seed of the devas is rain. The seed of rain is herbs. The seed of herbs is food". Additionally, in the Bhagavad Gita, Krishna states 'All living bodies subsist on food grains, which are produced from rains. Rains are produced by performance of yajna' (3.14).


title: Vamana

text: The translator, R.T.H. Griffith, states in his introduction to the Sama Veda that it 'is made up of hymns, portions of hymns, and detached verses, taken mainly from the "Rigveda"'. The above-quoted Sama Veda hymn, for example, is taken directly from Rigveda hymn 1.22.


title: Vamana

text: The terms 'stoma' and 'saman' from the above-quoted Pancavimsa Brahmana refer to mantras and hymns, such from the Sama Veda.


title: Vamana

text: The Jaiminīya Brahmana has a similar verse (1.3.3.2; also of the Sama Veda) which omits Vishnu's strides but explains the Varavantiya saman as 'He who desired cattle should apply the Varavantiya Saman. Prajapati created the animals. Having been created they ran away from him. By means of the Varavantiya Saman he held them back. Because he held them back ("avarayat") therefore the Varavantiya is called the Varavantiya. The application of the Varavantiya as the agnistoma Saman is made in order that the animals remain present and do not run away'.


title: Vamana

text: In the Taittiriya Samhita 5.5.8 (Black Yajurveda) Varavantiya is also explained as 'Prajapati created Agni; he [Agni], [being] created, went away from him; him [Agni] he [Prajapati] checked ("avarayata") by the Varavantiya, and that is why the Varavantiya has its name. By the Cyaita he congealed him, and that is why the Cyaita has its name. In that he reverences, with the Varavantiya, he restrains him, and by the Cyaita he congeals him'.


title: Vamana

text: The strides of Vishnu are thus referred to in regards to restraining animals from running away from sacrifices (often in rituals rice-cakes and other plant or milk-based foods would be symbolically sacrificed while the actual animals they represented would be left unharmed). This idea of being restrained by Vishnu Strides may be linked to Bali often being restrained or bound in the legend of Vamana.


title: Vamana

text: In regards to the above quotation, Aiyangar states that long (i.e. including braided) hair indicates Munis, and shaven hair indicates 'an ascetic of the order of sannyasin'. Roy argues that in 'the Satarudriya hymn of the Yajurveda [i.e. Vajasaneyi Samhita, Book 16, as quoted above], Rudra is referred to as "vamana". Rudra is said to preside over the asterism of Ardra and may, therefore, be understood to denote the star'.


title: Vamana

text: However, the terms 'thousand-eyed' (i.e. Purusha, see second account of Vamana in the Harivamsa, below), 'mountain-haunter' (e.g. Rigveda 1.154, above), and 'Sipivishta' given in the above-quote all also apply to Vishnu. In addition, the Shatapatha Brahmana (attached to the Vajasaneyi Samhita), relates the legend of Vishnu as a Dwarf, not Rudra /Shiva. Regardless, in the Puranas there are legends of both Vishnu and Shiva incarnating as Brahmin-dwarfs, and the above-quoted hymn provides the essential ingredients: the Brahmin, the Dwarf, and the concept of growth.


title: Vamana

text: Muir states about this legend in the Shatapatha Brahmana that 'Vishnu is represented as a dwarf, and has having, under the form of sacrifice, conquered the whole earth... [this] contains the germ of the story of the Dwarf [i.e. Vamana] incarnation'. This legend is given in relation to the "Darsapûrnamâseshtî", or 'New and Full-moon Sacrifices'. The translator, Eggeling, states (footnote 59:1 of the given link) that the above-quoted legend 'represents the "Purva-Parigraha", or first enclosing of the altar by a single line being drawn with the wooden sword [a sacrificial instrument called a "satasphyam"] on each of the three sides'. He also supposes (while admitting he cannot prove it) that the size of Vishnu may represent 'the sun-light, which, on shrinking to a dwarf's size in the evening, is the only means of preservation left to the devas'.


title: Vamana

text: This instruction, relating directly to the Vishnu strides mentioned in the Rigveda, is also given in relation to the "Darsapûrnamâseshtî", or 'New and Full-moon Sacrifices'. The three strides of Vishnu are not mentioned in direct relation to the legend of Vishnu as a dwarf. Instead, they are mentioned in regards to the performance of sacrifices to consecrate the sacrificial ground (e.g. to drive away the Rakashas or 'demons' and solidify their own power).


title: Vamana

text: This quote shows that 'Bali' is used refer to oblative portions or sacrificial offerings in ritual ceremonies such as the Agnihotra. In combination with 'Bali' being used to refer to taxes (see Taittiriya Brahmana, below), it therefore seems possible these meanings are linked with Bali being a king that loved to perform sacrifices and give sacrificial offerings (e.g. such as three steps of land).


title: Vamana

text: As per the above quote from the Taittirya Samhita, the sacrificial fee for Vishnu is a dwarf-animal (also stated in 1.8.1 (ox), 1.8.8, and 1.8.17). As D.A. Soifer states, the 'series of connections inherent in all this seems to be as follows: Visnu's three steps regain the worlds - Vishnu as a dwarf takes the three steps - a dwarf animal is sacrificed to Visnu to gain the power of this three steps'.


title: Vamana

text: This quote shows that 'Bali' is used refer to taxes paid to the King. It seems possible that this is linked to the character of Bali being a king (of the Asuras) who - also consistent with the other meaning of 'sacrificial offerings or oblations' - loved to perform sacrifices and give sacrificial offerings (such as land requested by dwarf-Brahmins).


title: Vamana

text: The Brihadaranyaka Upanishad is one of the Mukhya or Principal 108 Upanishads. From the last book of the Satapatha Brahmana (Kanva recension; this article cites the Madhyandina recension in the section above, which does not contain the Upanishad), it is a treatise on Atman (Soul or Self), and has been commented upon by figures such as Adi Shankar and Madhvacharya.


title: Vamana

text: According to this Sruti scripture, the concept of the 'three words' does not just refer to physical reality (i.e. ground, atmosphere, and sky). It also has other - more mystical - meanings, including Speech, Mind, and Vital Force. As such, the legend of Vamana striding over the three worlds in two or three steps also may have more mystical meanings, and those provided by the Brihadaranyaka Upanishad seem to be consistent with established Vedic concepts such as Pancha Bhoota (the Hindu classical elements). For example, it is stated by the above-quoted Upanishad that the first step on the earth also represents the organ of speech ('vac' or 'vak'). According to other authoritative - including Sruti sources - the first step, ground, and speech are all represented by Agni (God of Fire; fire-altars are key components of sacrifices):


title: Vamana

text: The Mahabharata, ascribed to the sage Vyasa, is one of two epic poems (Itihasa) in the Hindu cannon. Most notably, of the 18 the books ("parvas") of the Mahabharata, the sixth (called the Bhishma Parva) is the Bhagavad Gita, containing the teachings of Krishna (synonymous with Vishnu / Hari, as evidenced by the Mahabharata itself). The main account of Vamana is quoted above from chapter 270 of the third book, the Vana Parva, in its entirety. All other references cited are either brief mentions of this legend or supplementary information such as blessings that can be obtained in relation to Vamana.


title: Vamana

text: Notably, academics such as J. Melton and C. A. Jones state that 'Onam, an ancient rice harvest festival, is now tied to the story of King Mahabali as recounted in the epic Indian tale, the Mahabharata... Vishnu, impressed with Mahabali's devotion, granted him [Bali] the boon of being able to revisit his former subjects once a year'. However, no references were provided and no such account has been found in the Mahabharata (at least in the translation by K.M. Ganguli). Other notable details include:


title: Vamana

text: The first account consists of only one chapter (Bhavishya Parva: XXVII / 27). It begins with the Daitya Bali, having conquered Indra and the devas, conducting a Rajasuya sacrifice, officiated by Shukra and joined by 'many Brahmanas observant of ascetic vows and well read in the Vedas'. At this sacrifice Sarasvati (Lakshmi) appears and grants Bali a boon. Vamana is then born, takes the three worlds away from Bali in three footsteps, and restores Indra to power while the 'Daityas entered into the nether region'. Bali gratifies the devas with an 'offering of ambrosia', and so 'was shorn of his sins and became immortal'.


title: Vamana

text: The second account of the legend of Vamana is very similar to the accounts in the Matsya Purana and Vamana Purana. As shown above in comparison to the Vamana Purana, there are even strong similarities in wording, despite being a different translation of different text by a different translator. It therefore seems likely that either all three texts share a common source, or that one is the origin of the others.


title: Vamana

text: The second - and main - account of Vamana consists of 7 chapters (Bhavishya Parva: XL-XLVI / 40–46). 'Kashyapa, the well-dressed son of Marichi, espoused two sisters of Prajapati, Diti and Aditi'. Aditi gives birth to the twelve classes of celestials / Adityas / Suras (e.g. 'Indra' is the name of a post or class of a god, not an individual), and Diti gives birth to the demons / Daityas / Asuras, including Hiranyakashipu, the great-grandfather of Bali. After Hiranyakashipu is destroyed by the Narasimha incarnation, the noble Bali is crowned King of the Asuras (XL). Having defeated Indra and the Suras, Bali is congratulated by Lakshmi (XLI).


title: Vamana

text: The devas seek refuge with their mother, Aditi, at her Hermitage. She tells Indra 'yourself and all the immortals cannot slay Virochana's son, Bali. Only the thousand-headed Purusha is capable of slaying him and none else'. The devas and Aditi then approach Kashyapa, who agreeing with their desire to restore Indra's throne, takes them to the celestial abode of Brahmaloka to speak with Brahma. Brahma advises them to seek Vishnu, and they do so 'at the northern bank of the ocean of milk... Reaching that place called Amrita the Suras along with Kashyapa began to practice hard austerities for many years with a view to propitiate the thousand-eyed intelligent Yogin Narayana' (XLII).


title: Vamana

text: Vishnu, pleased with the austerities of the devas, agrees to Kashyapa's request to be born as Indra's 'younger brother, ever enhancing the joy of thy kinsmen and as the son of myself and Aditi'. Back at the Hermitage 'filled with saints they [the devas] engaged in the study of the Vedas and awaited Aditi's conception;. After a thousand years of pregnancy, Aditi, gives birth to Vamana, 'the protector of the devas and the destroyer of the Asuras' (XLIII). Praised and Eulogised by the devas, Vamana agrees to attend the horse sacrifice of Bali with the Rishi Vrihaspati, and while there 'will do what I think proper for regaining the three worlds'.


title: Vamana

text: At the sacrifice Vamana 'assumed the form of a boy, had smokey eyes, wore sacrificial thread well-polished, and deer-skin. He had an umbrella and staff in his hands. Although not aged he appeared like an old man'. Appearing to Bali, Vamana 'of wonderful speech, with reasons and arguments laid down in the Vedas, but not visible to any, described himself unto Bali as being identical with sacrifice'. Astonished, Bali asks about Vamana and what He wants (XLIV). After describing the details and merits of the Ashvamedha sacrifice, Vamana requests three steps of land before Bali is warned by Shukra 'do not promise him any gift... He is the Great Lord Hari. Having assumed the form of a dwarf through his Maya he has come here to impose on you for the well-being of the king of devas [Indra]'.


title: Vamana

text: Bali, pleased that the Lord of Sacrifice has personally attended, rejects the protests of both Shukra and his grandfather Prahlada to gift three footsteps of land to Vamana, who then displays his Universal Form. Angry, the other Asuras approach Vamana 'like insects going to a fire' (XLV). Increasing His gigantic form, Vamana smashes 'all the sons of Diti with his palms and feet'. The Asura leaders are destroyed, the three worlds possessed 'with his three-foot steps' are given back to Indra, and Bali is pleased to be assigned 'the region under the earth called Sutala'. Bali is also conferred a boon where he will benefit from the merits of things like improper sacrifices and vow-less studies, etc. Vishnu divides the world, and later Narada and Garuda discuss Vishnu with Bali, bound by celestial serpents (XLVI).


title: Vamana

text: The first brief account of the legend of Vamana in the Agni Purana, consisting of only 7 verses (or Slokas), has been quoted above in full. Notably, despite only being two paragraphs in length, it seems to contain all the fundamentals of the legend (i.e. more elaborate accounts consisting of several chapters still follow the same steps or formula):


title: Vamana

text: The main account of the legend of Vamana in the Bhagavata Puran is narrated by Sukadeva Gosvami to King Pariksit (canto 8, chapters 15–22). Given its similarity to legends provided in the Harivamsa, as well as the Matsya, Vamana, and Skanda Purunas, it seems this account either shares a common source, or more likely (on the assumption the Bhagavata was written later) was derived from at least one of these other accounts. Quotes given below in the chapter summaries are taken from the chapter introductions provided by the Bhaktivedanta Book Trust (BBT) for conciseness.


title: Vamana

text: After the Churning Of The Ocean Of Milk (see Kurma), Bali was defeated and killed by the Devas led by Indra, but was brought back by Sukracarya, who becomes his preceptor (or acarya; 11). After performing the Visvajit-yajna, and rebuilding his strength, Bali travels to the city of Indrapuri with his army for another battle with Indra, while 'Brhaspati advised the demidevas to leave the heavenly planets and keep themselves somewhere invisible... [Then Bali], in performing one hundred asvamedha-yajnas... enjoyed the opulences of the heavenly planets' (15). Aditi, to help her son Indra, performs penances to propitiate Vishnu, as taught by Kashyapa (16). Krishna, 'being very pleased by the "payo-vrata" ceremony performed by Aditi... agreed to become her son' (17).


title: Vamana

text: After Vamana is born and assumes the form of a dwarf, the Jatakarma (birthday) and sacred thread ceremonies are performed. Vamana then visits the sacrificial arena [of Bali] on the northern side of the Narmada River, at the field known as Bhṛgukaccha, where brahmanas of the Bhrigu dynasty were performing yajnas... after washing the Lord's feet, Bali Maharaja immediately accepted the water from the Lord's feet on his head and felt that he and his predecessors had certainly been glorified. Then Bali Maharaja inquired of Lord Vamanadeva's welfare and requested the Lord to ask him for money, jewels or anything He might desire' (18).


title: Vamana

text: Vamana praises Hiranyakasipu and Hiranyaksa before asking for three footsteps of land. However, Sukracarya knows the dwarf is Vishnu acting on behalf of Indra, and so forbids Bali to gift anything (19). As it 'is the duty of a householder to maintain the principles of religion... Bali Maharaja thought it improper to withdraw his promise... Lord Vamanadeva then immediately extended Himself into a universal body. By the mercy of Lord Vamanadeva, Bali Maharaja could see that the Lord is all-pervading and that everything rests in His body... The Lord gradually covered the entire surface of the world, and by extending His body He covered the entire sky. With His hands He covered all directions, and with His second footstep He covered the entire upper planetary system. Therefore, there was no vacant place where He could take His third footstep' (20).


title: Vamana

text: Seeing Bali deprived of everything in two steps, angry demons attack Vamana, but are defeated and - on Bali's order - are banished to the netherworld. Bali is arrested and bound with the rope of Varuna by Garuda, before Vishnu asks for the third step of land promised. However, as 'Lord Vishnu appreciated Bali Maharaja's determination and integrity, when Bali Maharaja was unable to fulfill his promise, Lord Vishnu ascertained that the place for him would be the planet Sutala, which is better than the planets of heaven' (21). Bali remembers the devotion of his grandfather, Prahlada, and so offers his head to Vishnu for the third step; pleased with this devotion, Krishna offers 'His disc to protect Bali Maharaja' and promises to remain with him as a doorkeeper (22). Other details include:


title: Vamana

text: Although the first account of the legend of Vamana in Brahma Purana is brief and otherwise entirely typical in nature, it is notable that 20 of the 28 verses focus on detailing the names and attributes of the Asuras that either attacked and/or were destroyed by Vamana. The remaining 8 verses (or slokas) relay the legend itself, whereby Vishnu adopts the dwarf-form of Vamana, attends 'the yajna of the powerful Bali', crushes the demons in His gigantic form, and returns control of the three worlds to Indra.


title: Vamana

text: The second account of the legend of Vamana consists of an entire chapter (Gautami-Mahatmya: 4; 68 verses). Narrated by Brahma to Narada, it differs from the usual accounts insofar as the devas led by Indra are 'defeated' not in a literal battle, but rather by the good and noble qualities of the invincible Bali, under whose rule 'there were no enemies, no ailments, no anxieties in any way.. While Bali was ruling over the kingdom, none of these was seen even in dream, viz. famine, evil, denial of God, [or] wickedness'. Jealous and miserable, the devas seek refuge in Vishnu, who states Bali is a devotee, 'cannot be conquered by Devas or Asuras', but can be bound 'by means of words with miraculous power' to return the kingdom to them.


title: Vamana

text: Vishnu enters the womb of Aditi and is born as the dwarf, Vamana. Assuming the form of a Brahmin, Vamana then attends the sacrifice of Bali 'singing Saman verses'. The preceptor of the demons, Sukra - a descendant of Bhrgu - warns Bali and his wife about Vamana, and Bali responds 'Blessed I am because the lord of sacrifices is coming to my house so unexpectedly'.


title: Vamana

text: Vamana requests three steps of land, this is granted by Bali, and Vamana grows in size, covering all of existence in two steps, as quoted above. Pleased with Bali, Vamana offers a boon but Bali does not wish for anything. The three worlds are returned to Indra, and Bali and his family are sent to the netherworld.


title: Vamana

text: A brief account of the legend of Vamana is provided in the Brahmanda Purana (Part 3: 73.75-87). It is notable as one of the few accounts where Bali is neither forewarned nor aware of the true nature of Vamana, or the consequences for gifting a three footsteps of land. In addition, while Bali and other 'Asuras along with their sons and grandsons' are driven to Patala by Vamana, the 'cruel ones among them were [also] killed'. After the Devas, Danavas (including Bali), and human beings see the gigantic universal form of Vamana - containing the universe within it - the three worlds are bestowed back to the 'noble-souled' leader of the Devas, Indra. Other details include:


title: Vamana

text: The legend of Vamana quoted above seems to be unique to the Brahmavaivarta Purana (Krsna-Janma-Khanda: Chapter 47). In this account, Visvakarma is employed by Indra to rebuild the city of "Amaravati" after it is destroyed. A year later, with Indra still not satisfied and unable to return to his abode, Visvakarma seeks the help of Brahma. Brahma in turn seeks the help of Vishnu, who incarnates in the 'form of a Brahmana boy... He wore a serene smile on his face which was quite charming'. Indra becomes arrogant and haughty after being asked about the length of time Visvakarma must be engaged, so as quoted above, Vamana points out there have been innumerable Indras in innumerable universes.


title: Vamana

text: Countless thousands of ants appear, and Vamana states to Indra that every one of them was previously enthroned as an Indra. He adds that all the ants had achieved their positions - high and low - because of their Karmas, alone. A sage called Lomasa arrives later, and asked why a patch of hair was missing from his chest, states that he loses a hair every time an Indra dies. He adds that there have been innumerable Brahmas, and that yet with 'the fall [death] of [a] Brahma, Vishnu winks but once'. Vamana - who turns out to be 'Shiva in the form of Vishnu' - and Lomasa disappear. Indra, looking at 'the whole scene like a dream', is left more humbled and intelligent. Visvakarma is thus generously rewarded with riches for his work by Indra and sent back to his own abode.


title: Vamana

text: A more typical account of Vamana is also provided elsewhere in the Purana. Quoted below, it is given as one of a series of examples where Indra becomes arrogant and so has his pride shattered by Vishnu (Indra's pride and humbling is also the premise of other legends such as that of Kurma, the tortoise incarnation):


title: Vamana

text: It seems that the legend of Vamana is only briefly mentioned in the Garuda Purana, such as in the example quoted above. Other details include:


title: Vamana

text: In the first account, following the part quoted above, Vamana covering all three worlds in three steps splits the cosmic egg, and the consequent flow of water rushing into it is 'termed by Brahma' as the Ganges. Vamana then tells Bali that he will be banished to the netherworld until merging with Him at the time of dissolution (i.e. at the end of the Kalpa, which lasts 1,000 Yugas in total). Vamana gives the three worlds back to Indra before disappearing in front of everyone's eyes. In the nether world, the devotee Bali seeks instruction from his grandfather, Prahlada, to worship and seek refuge in Vishnu (16.46-69).


title: Vamana

text: Prahlada is also directly linked with the legend of Narasimha, the fourth (man-lion) incarnation of Vishnu, who killed Hiranyakashipu. Hiranyakashipu is the father of Prahlada, great-grandfather of Bali, and elder brother of Hiranyaksha. The latter was killed by Varaha, the third (boar) incarnation of Vishnu. Both Hiranyakashipu and Hiranyaksha themselves are the first of three incarnations of Jaya and Vijaya, the doorkeepers of Vishnu cursed by the Four Kumaras.


title: Vamana

text: In a second and much briefer account, it is stated that in 'this Vaivasvata Manuvantra, Vishnu was born of Kashyapa and Aditi as Vamana. Winning the three worlds with his three steps, this high-souled lord gave in to Indra the triple world bereft of all obstacles... Since this entire world was entied by the high-souled Vamana, therefore he is called by all as Vishnu due to the root 'Vis' (to enter) involved herein' (49.33-36). Vaivasvata, also known as "Shraddhadeva Manu", is the current and seventh of fourteen total Manus that rule the current Kalpa in succession. Vaivasvata is also directly linked with the legend of Matsya, the first (fish) incarnation of Vishnu, who rescued him from the deluge at the end of the reign of the sixth Manu, "Chakshusha".


title: Vamana

text: In the Linga Purana, the legend of Vamana is only briefly mentioned, as quoted above. Other details include:


title: Vamana

text: In the Matsya Purana, three chapters are dedicated to the legend of Vamana. It has elements and descriptions very similar to that of the Vamana Purana in particular. In this account, Shaunaka tells Arjuna that after Indra is vanquished by the Asuras, his mother, Aditi, 'the mother of the Devas began to practise rigid austerities. For one thousand years she worshipped Lord Krishna by living on air alone, and on seeing Her children oppressed by the [Asuras] she said to Herself that Her sons were born in vain'. Vishnu, pleased with the devotion of Aditi, agrees to her request to restore Indra to power and states 'I shall therefore be born of you through Kashyapa when I shall kill all the demons' (CCXLIV / 244).


title: Vamana

text: After the demons lose their lustre, Bali enquiries from his grandfather and Devotee Of Vishnu, Prahlada, what the reason is. Meditating on Hari, Prahlada has a vision of Vamana and informs Bali, who initially scoffs but apologises after being cursed as 'indiscriminate, vicious and disrespectful'. Upon the birth of Vamana, 'all the Devas, even the Demons, men, earth, heaven, [and the] sky became peaceful', while Brahma prays and performs the appropriate birth ceremonies. Brahma gives Vamana a (Black) deerskin to wear, Vrihaspati the sacred thread, Marichi (Son Of Brahma) the Danda, Vasitha the Kamandala, Angira gives Kusa grass and the Vedas, Pulaha the Aksasutra (Rosary Beads), and Pulastya the white raiment. As Vamana proceeds to the sacrifice of King Bali, the 'portion of the land on which Vamana put His feet in walking sank down and a deep hole appeared there and He made the whole world with all its mountains to oceans... quiver though He walked slowly' (CCXLV / 245).


title: Vamana

text: Bali enquires from his preceptor Shukra why his sacrifices are not being accepted by Agni, and is informed Vamana is coming to the sacrifice. Although realising that Vishnu cannot be refused, Bali is still considers it 'uncommon good fortune that the Lord, for whose sake various asceticism, gifts, sacrifices, etc., are performed' will accept his offering in person. Bali offers any riches or any amount of land Vamana chooses, but is requested to give only three steps.


title: Vamana

text: Upon agreement, Vamana 'spread His vast Form and He measured the earth in the twinkling of an eye', and spreading over the three worlds, 'killed the great Asuras for the benefit of the Devas'. Vamana gives the three worlds to Indra and the nether regions to Bali, with the promise that after 'Vaivasvata Manu [7th and current ruling Manu] is succeeded by Savarni Manu, you will become Indra [i.e. King Of The devas]'. Vamana also mentions that as Bali in 'ancient times' had worshipped Him most devoutly, he can go to live in Patala, 'abounding in excellent gardens, palaces, luxuriant flowers, lakes, rivers' etc. Vamana then vanishes (CCXLVI / 246). Other details include:


title: Vamana

text: In the Narada Purana, the legend of Vamana is given in chapter eleven. The (anonymous) translator in footnote 12 to this chapter (p. 208) states that the 'gift of land has been highly praised as the most meritorious, from ancient times. Apararka quotes many verses from the Visnudharmottara Puran, the Aditya Purana and Matsya Purana... and states that there is no gift comparable to the gift of land. Verses pertaining to land-grant are common not only in Puranas or Smrti works but are recorded on inscriptions and copper-plates of such grants all over India'.


title: Vamana

text: In this account, Vishnu visits and offers Aditi a boon, being pleased with her penances. Aditi requests that her sons, the Devas, be restored to power, but without 'any harm unto [the] Daityas, since they too are my sons' (i.e. via her sister and co-wife of Kashyapa, Diti). Vishnu agrees, and promises to be born as her son, Vamana. Praised by Kashyapa upon His birth before taking 'leave of his mother and father, that Brahmana bachelor Vamana, went over to the great sacrifice of the supremely affluent Daitya [Bali], that was being performed'. Sukra warns Bali and advises him not to give anything to Vamana, but Bali refuses, stating 'O preceptor, you should not tender such advice which is contrary to the path of virtue. If Visnu himself partakes of oblations or gifts, what can be better than that?' Vamana arrives, is greeted by Bali in reverence, and explains the virtues of gifting lands to Brahmanas with the story of Bhadramati before asking for 'a plot of land measuring three steps'. As Bali takes up a pitcher of water to offer the land, Sukra attempts to obstruct the flow of water to prevent the offering, but Vamana uses the tip of Kusa/Darbha grass to touch the spout of the pitcher and completes it.


title: Vamana

text: 'Vishnu, that Soul of the Universe began to grow in size till he reached the abode of Brahma', and taking three steps, pierces the crust of the Cosmic Egg. The water that flows in and washes His feet 'thereby became pure and sanctified the world... It was served as resorted by the seven sages (The Ursa Major). Then it fell on the top of mount Meru' to become the Ganges. The three worlds are thus return to the Devas, Bali is given Rasatala 'along with all his Asuras', and Vamana goes to a 'forest for performing penance' (11). Other details include:


title: Vamana

text: The first is related by the sage Pulastya to Bhishma (Part 1: chapter 30), which took place 'formerly in the Satya Yuga'. Similar to the legend of Vritra in the Bhagavata Puran, Baskali (i.e. Bali) conquers the devas led by Indra after attaining the boon of invincibility from Brahma, forcing them to ultimately seek Vishnu for refuge. Vishnu agrees to help, and Aditi (Wife Of Kashyapa) is pregnant for 1,000 divine years with the Vamana incarnation. It is noted that Aditi 'entertained a malicious design' to destroy the demons during her pregnancy.


title: Vamana

text: At 'the time as ordained, the god, the lord of lords (i.e. Visnu), kind to all beings, of pure and scanty hair, having the beauty of the moon, the conch and the (sun-) rise, became (i.e. was born as) Aditi's son'. Vamana later travels with Indra to the city of Baskali to request three steps of land. To the amazement of Indra, in the city there 'was no religious merit, no lore, no architecture, no art that did not exist (i.e. that was not found)', and even the Vedas were being recited by 'virtuous demons'. Baskali himself 'was conversant with righteousness, was grateful, truth-speaking, and had his senses controlled'.


title: Vamana

text: Delighted, Baskali compares seeing Indra to sacrifices like the Agnistoma and Rajasuya. Indra praises Baskali and requests three steps of land for the dwarf-brahmin to have a fire-sanctuary to make sacrifices. Baskali praises and surrenders to Vamana as Vishnu who 'has performed a hundred sacrifices endowed with excellent sacrificial fees', adding that Vishnu 'killed Vrtra Namuci' (a legend also related to the development of the Narasimha incarnation). Although advised by Sukra to gift nothing to Vamana or else face total destruction, Baskali considers himself lucky to be able to surrender to Vishnu and wants to give everything. Indra repeats that only three steps of land are requested, and 'Baskali then gave (the piece of land measured by) three (foot-) steps to the dwarf, after (pouring) water (on his hand), saying 'Let Hari himself be pleased with me'.


title: Vamana

text: The first step of Vamana is on the sun, the second is on Dhruva (the polar star), and the third reaches outside the universe. Water rushing in through the crack in the edge of the universe caused by the tip of Vishnu's toe becomes the river Visnupadi (i.e. the Ganges), an auspicious and holy river. Vishnu offers Baskali a boon, and is requested only for increased devotion and a death at His hands in order to enter the realm even 'inaccessible to the ascetics'. Vishnu agrees and promises to kill Baskali when they incarnate and battle as Varaha and Hiranyaksha, respectively. Otherwise, after being deposed, 'Baskali lived happily in the netherworld [while] Indra also protected the three worlds'.


title: Vamana

text: The second account, narrated by Mahadeva (i.e. Shiva), is much shorter and more typical in nature. In this, Vamana is implored by the devas to visit the sacrifice of Bali to request the three worlds from him. Vamana, this time alone without Indra, is greeted and worshipped by Bali, explains the merit of donating land, and requests three steps, which is granted despite the protests of Sukra. Vamana then 'abandoned his dwarfish form... extending up to fifty crores (of yojanas) he seized the earth along with the seas and mountains, along with the oceans, islands, devas, demons and human beings'. As Vishnu places his second and third steps, creating the sacred Ganges in the process, Bali is granted the ability to sees His universal 'Janardana-form' (similar to that witnessed by Arjun in the Bhagavad Gita). Other details include:


title: Vamana

text: It seems that the legend of Vamana is only briefly mentioned in the Shiva Purana. The translator, J.L.Shastri, notes in the fourth part (page 1659, footnote 93) that 'Patala is called Balisadman - the abode of Bali. According to a legend God Vishnu in the form of a Brahman dwarf craved from Bali the boon of three steps of ground and having obtained it stepped over heaven and earth in two strides but then out of respect to Bali's devotion and his grandson Prahlada's virtues, he stopped short and left to him Patala, the nether region'. However, Prahlada is actually the grandfather of Bali (being the son of Hiranyakashipu), not his grandson as incorrectly stated by Shastri. Other details include:


title: Vamana

text: Notably, this above-quoted incident is not mentioned in either of the two legends of Vamana given in the Skanda Purana.


title: Vamana

text: In the first account (part 1, chapters 18–19), after being defeated by the Daityas (led by Bali), the shamed Suras (led by Indra) disguise themselves as different animals and go to the hermitage of Kashyapa and Aditi for refuge. Aditi wishes to help the Suras, so on the advice of Kashyapa, she performs the "Ekabhakta" rite for Vishnu for a year (details and instructions are provided, including the most auspicious timings and star constellations). Pleased with Aditi's holy penance, Janardana (Vishnu), on 'the Dvadasi day which coincided with [the] Sravana constellation [appeared in] the form of a Brahmacarin (religious student). He was two-armed and had lotus-like eyes. He had the colour of the flower of Atasi (Hemp). He was adorned with a garland of sylvan flowers'.


title: Vamana

text: Pondering how to defeat the Daityas, Vamana first orders his gada (mace) to kill Bali, but it replies that this is impossible as Bali is 'a great Brahmanya (well-versed in the Vedas, friendly and hospitable to Brahmanas)'. His discus and Sarnga bow give the same reply when ordered to kill Bali, too: 'Just as you are Brahmanya, O Vishnu, so is this great Daitya [called Bali] also'. Meanwhile, the Daityas conquer heaven (abandoned by the Suras) and install Bali on Indra's throne. Bali's previous life as a sinful gambler is recounted, before it is revealed Aditi completed her Vrata (vow) - upon which Vamana, 'Aditi's son in the form of a great religious student' appeared  - just before Bali's 100th Horse-Sacrifice.


title: Vamana

text: At the sacred thread ceremony performed by Kashyapa for Vamana, Brahma gives the sacred thread, Soma gives the staff, the Earth gives two sandals, and Bhavani gives Alms. Also given a girdle and deer-hide by unknown parties, Vamana proceeds to Bali's next sacrifice. Although Bali is willing to give the Brahmin the whole earth, Vamana requests only three steps of land, before Sukra warns Bali that the religious student ('Batu') is Vishnu in disguise, and in relation to the Kurma incarnation, that Vishnu had previously incarnated as Mohini to take the Amrita away from the Daityas to give to the Suras (Chapter 18).


title: Vamana

text: In the next chapter, Bali states that he intends to give whatever is asked as 'Lord Hari, the soul of everyone has come here out of sympathy for me, in order to redeem me'. Sukra curses Bali for ignoring his advice and retreats to a Hermitage. There is no mention of Sukra attempting to block the offering or losing his eye. Vamana takes two steps, the first covering the earth and the second all existence; the water used by Brahma to wash the foot of Vishnu that took the second step produces the Ganges. Vamana returns to His original size, and through Garuda, admonishes and binds Bali for only gifting two steps, not three as promised (since all existence had been covered in only two). Vindhyavali, Bali's wife, sees through this ruse and offers the heads of Bali, her son Bana, and herself for Vishnu to step on. Delighted, Vishnu releases Bali from his bonds, instructs Bali to rule in Sutala, and offers a Boon. Bali states 'I do not wish for anything except your lotus-like feet, O Lord'. Vishnu promises to be Bali's gatekeeper forever, and all 'the beggars and mendicants of the three worlds went to Bali. Visnu who stood at the entrance to his abode, granted to them whatever they desired to get'. The account then ends with a eulogy to Shiva, by whose favour 'that Bali became thus' (i.e. happy and blessed; Chapter 19).


title: Vamana

text: In the second account (part 12, chapter 63, verse 237 onward), after the request of the devas granted a boon by Vishnu, Vamana is born 'as the delighter of Aditi' some time later. At this time Bali was performing 'a hundred horse sacrifices with a desire to take away the kingdom of Indra'. Vamana, singing 'the Mantras of all the four Vedas', arrives at Bali's sacrifice officiated by figures such as Kashyapa and Bhrgu. Announced by the doorkeepers, Vamana is taken by Bali to the centre of the hall, and asked His reason for coming as well as whatever He may desire.


title: Vamana

text: Vamana requests three steps of land. Bali offers much more, but Vamana repeats he wishes for three steps of land. Against the advice of Bhrgu (Sukra in the first account), this is granted by Bali, and 'Hari immediately occupied the cosmos. The entire region of [the] earth including mountains, forests and jungles was covered by two and a half [footsteps]'. Having conquered the Asuras, Vamana gives the three worlds back to Satakratu (Indra) and returns to earth. The remainder of the chapter concerns the merits of the Vamana Tirtha (holy site) related to this legend. Other details include:


title: Vamana

text: There are two main accounts of the legend of Vamana in the Vamana Purana. At least 18 chapters relate directly to Vamana and events or characters relating to the legend. H.H. Wilson summarises the legend of Vamana in this Purana as 'the birth of Krishna as a dwarf, for the purpose of humiliating Bali by fraud, as he was invincible by force. The story is told as usual; but the scene is laid at Kurukshetra'. This somewhat curt summation is fundamentally inaccurate and misleading since Bali is neither humiliated nor defrauded. As a general rule, Bali is a noble-souled and religious character fully aware of exactly who Vamana is and who knowingly grants three footsteps of land in spite of being warned of the consequences. This is the case in both accounts contained in the Vamana Purana, where far from being 'humiliated', Bali is installed as ruler of the netherworlds and is promised the post of Indra (i.e. King of the devas).


title: Vamana

text: The first account is remarkably similar to that of the Matsya Purana (see above), and consists of 9 chapters (Saromabatmya: 2-10). It begins with the coronation of Bali as the King after defeating Indra. Noble and religious, Bali is congratulated for his victory and blessed by Sri (2). Meanwhile, Indra returns to his mother, Aditi, who states Bali can only be defeated by Vishnu. Aditi and the devas go to Kashyapa, 'the creator of beings, the Supreme Master of the entire progeny' who then takes them to Brahmaloka, the celestial abode of Brahma (3).


title: Vamana

text: Brahma informs the devas that the three worlds will be delivered by 'Him who is the Lord of all the worlds, the eternal master of the universe, and the First born they call the Primordial First Deity. Even the devas do not know who the Great One is'. From there the devas travel to 'the northern bank of the Ksiroda Ocean, in the northern direction, where the Creator of the universe is present... the region known as Amrta'. There, knowing 'Lord Narayana, the thousand-eyed god' could only be realised through spiritual union, practiced holy vows and recited the Vedas for 1,000 years (4). Kashyapa also eulogises Vishnu by reciting many of His names, including 'Devadeva' ('God of devas') and 'Prasitara' ('the Eater of the oblation at the sacrifice') and states the importance of sacrifice (5).


title: Vamana

text: Narayana agrees to the request of Kashyapa to 'be born as the younger brother of Indra, the promoter of the happiness of the relatives, and the dear son of Aditi'. Returning to the Hermitage of Kashyapa, Aditi then performs penances for 10,000 years (6). Pleased with her penance Vishnu appears, agrees to Aditi's wish to restore her son Indra to power, and becomes conceived in the womb (7). After the demons lose their lustre, Bali enquiries from his grandfather and Devotee Of Vishnu, Prahlada, what the reason is. Meditating on Hari, Prahlada has a vision of Vamana and informs Bali, who scoffs and is consequently cursed as for his disrespect towards 'the all-pervasive, supreme spirit' (8). Bali apologises, is forgiven by Prahlada, and accepts he will lose his kingdom as a result of the curse. Meanwhile, Vamana is born to Aditi after 10 months of pregnancy. Brahma performs the Jatakarma ceremony and other rites before gifting a black deer skin, Brhaspati the sacred thread, Marici the Asadha staff, Vasistha a Kamandalu, Angiras a silken cloth, and so on. The dwarf then proceeds slowly to the sacrifice of Bali, His footsteps leaving hollows in the earth (9).


title: Vamana

text: Bali is warned by Sukra about the arrival of Vamana, and advised to refuse any request made. Bali responds that he could not refuse the Lord of Sacrifices even if he wanted to, and considers himself very fortunate the Lord is arriving to his Yajna personally. Bali offers Vamana 'a gift of anything that belongs to me' and Vishnu requests 'three strides for a Fire Sanctuary [Altar]'. Bali agrees and as 'soon as water fell in his palm the Dwarf assumed non-dwarfish dimensions and showed instantly his form, comprehending all devas'. In three steps Vamana regains the three worlds which are returned to Indra, while Bali is promised to become Indra on 'the expiry of the Vaivasvata period' (i.e. end of the rule of the seventh Manu); until then, he is to rule in Sutala, 'crowded with hundreds of palaces and provided with comforts necessary for devas'. The remainder of the chapter concerns the importance of sacrifices, and the merits achieved by Bali though improper practices of others, such as 'sacrifices performed without faith' (10).


title: Vamana

text: The second account - excluding chapters not directly related to the legend, such as Bali conquering the devas beforehand and the pilgrimage of Prahlada after cursing Bali - consists of at least 5 chapters (Saromabatmya: 50–51, 62, and 64–65). In this, Indra travels to Brahmaloka to confer with Brahma and Kashyapa, where he is told that he lost his Kingdom due to his sin of attempting to destroy the fetus of Diti (saved by Vishnu), another wife of Kashyapa and mother of the Daityas. Indra performs penances, of which he tells his mother, Aditi. Aditi in turn performs penances, and pleased, Vishnu agrees to be born as her son (i.e. Vamana) to restore Indra to power (50). Similar the first account, Bali is warned about the birth of Vamana and cursed after failing to take the threat seriously, albeit this time by his grandfather Prahlada (not Sukra), who then goes on a pilgrimage (51).


title: Vamana

text: Vamana is born, and eulogised by Brahma who performs the Upanayana and Jatakarma ceremonies and others. Pulaha gives the sacred thread to Vamana, Pulastya two white garments, Agastya a deer skin, Bharadvaja a girdle, Marici a staff, Vasistha (son of Varuna) rosary beads, Angiras a broom of Kusa grass, King Raghu an umbrella, Nrga a pair of shoes, Brhaspati a water-jar, and so on. Vamana states 'I will go to Kuruksetra which confers great prosperity. There the sacred Asvamedha Sacrifice of the king of demons [Bali] is going on' (62).


title: Vamana

text: Sukra advises Bali not to give anything to Vamana. This advice is rejected by Bali, who relates the story of Nisakara 'the son of Kosakara, which took place on the Malaya Mountain in olden days'. It is similar to the legend of Bharat, insofar as it concerns a person that having remembered their previous births, pretended to be mentally-handicapped, and suffered mistreatment by others as a result, in order to 'no longer commit terrible sins with my mind, actions and speech' (64). Vamana arrives at the sacrifice of Bali and requests three steps of land. Bali offers much more but Vamana again repeats 'Give me three steps; I do ask for this much only'. Bali agrees, and just 'as the water (of the pitcher) fell on the hand (of Vishnu) he assumed a divine, multifarious, world-embracing form for the purpose of pervading the three worlds'. In two steps, Vamana covers all existence and creates the Ganges. Vamana then tells Bali he must 'supply my (remaining) step or accept captivity'. Bali's son, Bana, sees through the ruse and points out Vishnu could traverse all of existence in a single step despite being in the small form of a dwarf.