When Lord Mahavishnu took the Vamana avatara and asked Mahabali for land as daana, Mahabali’s guru Sukracharya saw through the Lord’s disguise. The Lord wanted land to be measured with three steps of His feet. But Sukracharya could guess that there was trouble ahead for Mahabali. As a guru, it was his duty to warn the king. Kamban in his Ramayana records the warnings of Sukracharya in a beautiful verse.
Sukracharya tells Mahabali not to trust Vamana. He may be short, but He was the One who kept the universe in His stomach during the deluge, says Sukracharya. He warns Mahabali that if he gives what Vamana wants, he will eventually be left with nothing. If Mahabali were to abide by Sukracharya’s advice, he would have to break his promise to Vamana, and he would be guilty of lying. The Sastras suggest that a lie is justified under certain circumstances, elaborated M.A. Venkatakrishnan, in a discourse. If a man’s life is in danger, it is all right to tell a lie to save himself. If a man’s earnings are under threat, he can tell a lie to save his property. If the life of a devotee of the Lord is in danger, he can tell a lie. Sukracharya knew that Mahabali would lose everything he possessed, if he heeded Vamana’s request. So, to break his word would be a permissible lie.
As against all this, however, the Sastras also say it is a sin to stop a man from giving to another. If a man stops another’s daana, his entire family will suffer without food. Mahabali pointed this out to Sukracharya and picked up the vessel of water, for the daana would be complete only with the pouring of water. Sukracharya took the form of a bee and blocked the spout of the vessel. The Lord pricked one of his eyes with a blade of grass.
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