Today we celebrate a special holiday: Vāmana Dvadasi, a holiday associated with the planet Jupiter.

The story of Vāmana Deva It is one of the most fascinating of Viṣṇu’s incarnations, partly because it all begins with a seemingly insignificant request: three steps of earth.

Bali Mahārāja is performing a great sacrifice on the banks of the Narmadā. Surrounding him are priests, brāhmaṇas, offerings, and ritual fires. He is the ruler of the three worlds; he has defeated the Devas and attained a position that now seems unassailable. Bali, however, is not portrayed simply as a cruel Asura. He is a great ruler—generous, disciplined, and true to his word. It is during that very sacrifice that a young brāhmaṇa appears. He is small in stature, simply dressed, and carries the staff and umbrella of a brahmacārī. He does not arrive with an army, carries no weapons, and shows no outward sign of power. Yet, as soon as he enters the sacrificial arena, he captures everyone’s attention. Bali rises, welcomes him with respect, and asks what he desires. He could offer him land, riches, villages, horses, or livestock. The young man replies that all he needs is three paces on land.

Bali almost smiles at such a modest request. He tells him he could ask for much more. But Vāmana insists: three steps are enough. It is at that moment that Śukrācārya, the master from Bali, realizes what is happening. He looks closely at the young man and recognizes Viṣṇu. He immediately warns his disciple: this is not merely a brāhmaṇa who has come to receive alms; it is the Lord Himself, and He has come to take back from the Asuras what they have conquered and restore the Devas to their rightful place. If Bali keeps his promise, he will lose everything.

Bali listens. He knows how much he owes his teacher and understands perfectly well that, from the perspective of the kingdom and its prosperity, Śukrācārya is right. But he has given his word. He therefore decides to honor it and formally ratifies the gift.

At that moment, everything changes. The young brahmacārī’s small body begins to grow. His legs stretch across the Earth, his body fills the space, and his arms extend in all directions. The one who, just moments before, seemed like a boy standing before Bali’s throne now contains the worlds within his body. Vāmana becomes Trivikrama, He who traverses the universe with his footsteps. With his first step, he covers the Earth and all that Bali had conquered. With his second, he traverses the celestial worlds until he reaches the edge of the universe. The nail of his big toe pierces the cosmic covering, and through that opening the water of the causal ocean enters. Upon touching Viṣṇu’s foot, that water becomes sacred and begins its descent through the worlds: it is The Celestial Ganges, Viṣṇupadī, “one who comes from Viṣṇu’s foot.”.

This detail, too, is beautiful. The Gaṅgā does not simply originate as a river flowing down to Earth. Even before that, it is a current that enters our universe through the opening created by Vāmana’s foot. Viṣṇu’s step opens a breach in the boundaries of the cosmos and allows water from beyond to enter creation. The same image can be interpreted spiritually: when the Divine breaks through the boundaries within which we have confined our lives, something that previously could not reach us can enter.

Meanwhile, Bali watches as everything he considered his own vanishes within those two steps. There is no kingdom left, no land remains; there is not a single corner of the three worlds that he can still call his own. Vāmana then reminds him that he had promised three steps, but has received only two. Where will he be able to take the third?

Bali might protest. He might say he was deceived. He had promised three steps to a young brāhmaṇa, and now he finds himself face to face with a cosmic form capable of traversing the universe. He could accuse Viṣṇu of using a ruse to deprive him of his kingdom. He does not. He bows his head and offers it up. He has nothing left to give but himself.

Here we find one of the most profound meanings in the entire story: śaraṇāgati, surrender. As long as we offer something we possess, there is still someone who says, “This is mine, and I choose to give it away.” We can offer money, time, service, prayers, or sacrifices. Bali takes us beyond this point. First, he loses what he possesses, and then, when there is nothing left to offer, he offers himself. The third step does not simply fall upon his head: it marks the moment when the ruler of the three worlds ceases to be the owner even of his own position.

It is interesting that this scene can also be interpreted through the lens of Jyotiṣa. Śukrācārya is Śukra, Venus, the guru of the Asuras. Bṛhaspati is Guru, Jupiter, the teacher of the Devas. They are both great masters, and both possess a form of knowledge, but the paths they take are different. Śukra knows the world very well—its resources, relationships, pleasure, fertility, wealth, and everything that allows material life to flourish. This should not, therefore, be seen as something negative. In the story of Bali, however, Śukrācārya clearly represents the principle that seeks to preserve what has been achieved. He tells his disciple, in essence: Don't lose your kingdom, don't jeopardize your prosperity, don't give up what you've achieved.

Guru leads us in a different direction. Jupiter’s prosperity is not just about what we can accumulate, but also about what brings us closer to the Dharma. That is why Guru sometimes helps us grow by giving, and other times by taking away. He can protect a position, but he can also show us that that position has become an obstacle. Śukra sees what Bali is about to lose; Vāmana shows him what he can become.

In astrological tradition, Vāmana is associated specifically with Guru, Jupiter, and this connection makes the period we are currently experiencing particularly interesting. Between 2025 and 2027, Jupiter will enter the Stellar Cancer, the Rāśi of its exaltation. The first entry occurred on October 18, 2025, before turning retrograde in Gemini on December 5. Jupiter then re-entered Cancer on June 2, 2026, where it remains until October 31. After moving into Leo and then going retrograde, it will return to Cancer on January 25, 2027, staying there until June 26, 2027.

We therefore have a long period of time, between 2025 and 2027, during which Guru enters and exits its sign of exaltation several times. This does not, of course, mean that a strong Jupiter can automatically eliminate the world’s difficulties. Jyotiṣa does not work that way, and we cannot isolate a single Graha from the rest of the sky. But the repeated presence of an exalted Guru remains a very important factor, especially during a period in which tensions related to power, wealth, war, resource management, and the balance of power among nations seem to be constantly emerging.

It’s hard not to think of Vāmana. Bali has conquered the worlds, but Viṣṇu does not send a larger army against him. He does not confront him on an equal footing in terms of power. He arrives small, almost harmless, asks for three steps, and through those three steps puts things into perspective. Power is taken away from the Asuras and restored to the Devas, but Bali is not destroyed. On the contrary, it is precisely through that loss that his spiritual greatness emerges. Viṣṇu grants him Sutala, offers him his protection, and promises him a future position as Indra.

This is perhaps the most interesting point in the entire story. Bali loses a kingdom, but he does not lose his grace. On the contrary, it is precisely when he has nothing left to defend that his relationship with Viṣṇu deepens.

We can therefore view Jupiter’s long transit as a form of protection that does not necessarily coincide with maintaining the status quo. Sometimes, to protect means to preserve. Other times, it means curbing a power that has grown too great, interrupting a dynamic, or reestablishing a boundary where it had been overstepped. Vāmana does not destroy Bali: It puts it into perspective and, at the same time, elevates it.

And this is probably one of the most beautiful lessons from Vāmana Deva. When the Divine enters our lives, it does not always come to give us something more. Sometimes it comes to reassess what we have built. First it takes one step, then a second, until all that remains is the fundamental question: how much of what we call “mine” are we truly willing to entrust?

Bali, in the end, responds by offering his own head.