King Mahabali as victim of the colonial mindset
August 21 2009
Fiji’s first President Ratu Sir Kamisese Mara on the eve of Independence had given this unique and thought provoking definition of colonialism: “Colonialism means that the western people, people who come from the western hemisphere and brought up in the western civilisation think they are the only people who know anything in this world and no one else knows anything … This is the end of that era.”
It was true that colonial rule was coming to an end in Fiji but unfortunately colonialism as defined by Ratu Mara still continued with the regional university, the University of the South Pacific (USP) one of only two regional universities in the world, becoming the haven for neo-colonialism.
In our day we see the western people as the ones with such attitudes but there were others before them. The earliest example I can think of is the story of Mahabali in Hindu mythology, who is supposed to have ruled over the southernmost part of India, which today is the state of Kerala where I was born. Even today the people of Kerala celebrate every year the happiness the people had under his rule in the ancient times. They sing praises of the egalitarian society that existed under Mahabali, which, translated from Malayalam goes: When Mahabali ruled over the country, all the people were the same. There were no lies or treachery or any other kind of dishonest dealings.
There was but one problem. Mahabali was a descendant of the ‘Asuras’ (the demons) and the ‘Devas’ (the angels) were jealous of his fame. So the Devas pleaded with Lord Vishnu (the Hindu God of Preservation) to get rid of Mahabali but Vishnu found it difficult as Mahabali had done nothing wrong. So He came as a little boy, Vamanan, and got rid of Mahabali by tricking him.
Vamanan came to Mahabali one morning when the king was finishing his daily prayers. After his prayers it was a custom with the king to grant the people who came and asked him for help whatever they wanted. That day he saw this little boy and asked him what he wanted. Vamanan asked the king for three measures of land to sit and meditate. Mahabali thought it was a small request and asked Vamanan to measure it himself and take it, at which Vamanan assumed his real form.
He was no longer a little boy and his first step covered the whole earth. With his second step he covered the sky and there was no room for the third step. Mahabali, who by now realised that Vamanan was not a little boy but God Incarnate, asked Him to put His foot (third step) on his (Mahabali’s) head to fulfil his word to give the ‘boy’ three measures of land. Vamanan put his foot on Mahabali’s head and pushed him down to the netherworld.
Mahabali asked Vamanan to grant him a last wish before he disappeared, which was that he should be allowed to come back and visit his people once a year. So it is believed that he comes back every year on the day of Thiruvonam (Onam for short) in the Hindu month which falls between August 15 and September 15. While the rest of the Hindu world celebrate ‘Deepavali’ or ‘Diwali’ as the most important festival in the year the people of Kerala consider ‘Onam’, the day their good king Mahabali is supposed to visit them every year, as the most important festival. Diwali is only a minor festival for them.
Born and brought up in a traditional Hindu home, I am very happy about my Hindu heritage. I have respect for all religions but I believe no other religion gives one the flexibility that Hinduism does. I can remain a strong Hindu and at the same time criticise what I see as a weakness in Hinduism. And the story of Mahabali is one story that I find difficult to accept in the Hindu mythology.
The Bhagavad Gita says whenever there is an increase in evil God comes into the world to get rid of the wicked and to preserve the virtuous. But in this case He came to get rid of the good King Mahabali. While the Hindu calendar marks the day as Vamana Jayanthi (birthday of Vamanan, who is considered the fifth incarnation of Vishnu) people in Kerala celebrate it as the day when Mahabali makes his yearly visit to see his former subjects because they consider their good king Mahabali to be more important than Vamanan who helped the Devas get rid of him (Mahabali).
The Devas did not want to accept that an Asura could be a good king and even better than any of them. So Mahabali had to go. This perhaps was an early example of colonialism, as defined by Ratu Mara, of one group thinking that only they know everything and nobody else can equal them in anyway.
The white colonials, for example, believe that the non-whites can do nothing good and right. In India they took credit even for the unification of India as one nation. They think it was the Indian railways introduced by the British that helped to unite that country, which used to be made up of several princely states, as a nation. It was only when I went to the University of Western Australia in 1987 I realised how strong such colonial feelings were. I had a supervisor in Perth who was an apologist for colonialism. He once confessed to me that he wanted to go to India to see the Bombay railway station! It intrigued me at first until I talked to my Irish friend, Meaghan. She thought it was quite natural coming from a colonial like him because they associate the Indian railways with British colonial rule.
I remember giving him a card at Christmas, which came soon after he said this, wishing him a Merry Christmas in which I also wrote: “I wish you an enjoyable study leave in London as you delve deeper and deeper into the workings of the colonial office. I also hope you would be able to get to India one day (‘the brightest jewel on the crown’) and stand in front of the Bombay railway station and visualise the glory that was the British Raj!”
It was true that colonial rule was coming to an end in Fiji but unfortunately colonialism as defined by Ratu Mara still continued with the regional university, the University of the South Pacific (USP) one of only two regional universities in the world, becoming the haven for neo-colonialism.
In our day we see the western people as the ones with such attitudes but there were others before them. The earliest example I can think of is the story of Mahabali in Hindu mythology, who is supposed to have ruled over the southernmost part of India, which today is the state of Kerala where I was born. Even today the people of Kerala celebrate every year the happiness the people had under his rule in the ancient times. They sing praises of the egalitarian society that existed under Mahabali, which, translated from Malayalam goes: When Mahabali ruled over the country, all the people were the same. There were no lies or treachery or any other kind of dishonest dealings.
There was but one problem. Mahabali was a descendant of the ‘Asuras’ (the demons) and the ‘Devas’ (the angels) were jealous of his fame. So the Devas pleaded with Lord Vishnu (the Hindu God of Preservation) to get rid of Mahabali but Vishnu found it difficult as Mahabali had done nothing wrong. So He came as a little boy, Vamanan, and got rid of Mahabali by tricking him.
Vamanan came to Mahabali one morning when the king was finishing his daily prayers. After his prayers it was a custom with the king to grant the people who came and asked him for help whatever they wanted. That day he saw this little boy and asked him what he wanted. Vamanan asked the king for three measures of land to sit and meditate. Mahabali thought it was a small request and asked Vamanan to measure it himself and take it, at which Vamanan assumed his real form.
He was no longer a little boy and his first step covered the whole earth. With his second step he covered the sky and there was no room for the third step. Mahabali, who by now realised that Vamanan was not a little boy but God Incarnate, asked Him to put His foot (third step) on his (Mahabali’s) head to fulfil his word to give the ‘boy’ three measures of land. Vamanan put his foot on Mahabali’s head and pushed him down to the netherworld.
Mahabali asked Vamanan to grant him a last wish before he disappeared, which was that he should be allowed to come back and visit his people once a year. So it is believed that he comes back every year on the day of Thiruvonam (Onam for short) in the Hindu month which falls between August 15 and September 15. While the rest of the Hindu world celebrate ‘Deepavali’ or ‘Diwali’ as the most important festival in the year the people of Kerala consider ‘Onam’, the day their good king Mahabali is supposed to visit them every year, as the most important festival. Diwali is only a minor festival for them.
Born and brought up in a traditional Hindu home, I am very happy about my Hindu heritage. I have respect for all religions but I believe no other religion gives one the flexibility that Hinduism does. I can remain a strong Hindu and at the same time criticise what I see as a weakness in Hinduism. And the story of Mahabali is one story that I find difficult to accept in the Hindu mythology.
The Bhagavad Gita says whenever there is an increase in evil God comes into the world to get rid of the wicked and to preserve the virtuous. But in this case He came to get rid of the good King Mahabali. While the Hindu calendar marks the day as Vamana Jayanthi (birthday of Vamanan, who is considered the fifth incarnation of Vishnu) people in Kerala celebrate it as the day when Mahabali makes his yearly visit to see his former subjects because they consider their good king Mahabali to be more important than Vamanan who helped the Devas get rid of him (Mahabali).
The Devas did not want to accept that an Asura could be a good king and even better than any of them. So Mahabali had to go. This perhaps was an early example of colonialism, as defined by Ratu Mara, of one group thinking that only they know everything and nobody else can equal them in anyway.
The white colonials, for example, believe that the non-whites can do nothing good and right. In India they took credit even for the unification of India as one nation. They think it was the Indian railways introduced by the British that helped to unite that country, which used to be made up of several princely states, as a nation. It was only when I went to the University of Western Australia in 1987 I realised how strong such colonial feelings were. I had a supervisor in Perth who was an apologist for colonialism. He once confessed to me that he wanted to go to India to see the Bombay railway station! It intrigued me at first until I talked to my Irish friend, Meaghan. She thought it was quite natural coming from a colonial like him because they associate the Indian railways with British colonial rule.
I remember giving him a card at Christmas, which came soon after he said this, wishing him a Merry Christmas in which I also wrote: “I wish you an enjoyable study leave in London as you delve deeper and deeper into the workings of the colonial office. I also hope you would be able to get to India one day (‘the brightest jewel on the crown’) and stand in front of the Bombay railway station and visualise the glory that was the British Raj!”
Fiji’s first President Ratu Sir Kamisese Mara on the eve of Independence had given this unique and thought provoking definition of colonialism: “Colonialism means that the western people, people who come from the western hemisphere and brought up in the western civilisation think they are the only...
Fiji’s first President Ratu Sir Kamisese Mara on the eve of Independence had given this unique and thought provoking definition of colonialism: “Colonialism means that the western people, people who come from the western hemisphere and brought up in the western civilisation think they are the only people who know anything in this world and no one else knows anything … This is the end of that era.”
It was true that colonial rule was coming to an end in Fiji but unfortunately colonialism as defined by Ratu Mara still continued with the regional university, the University of the South Pacific (USP) one of only two regional universities in the world, becoming the haven for neo-colonialism.
In our day we see the western people as the ones with such attitudes but there were others before them. The earliest example I can think of is the story of Mahabali in Hindu mythology, who is supposed to have ruled over the southernmost part of India, which today is the state of Kerala where I was born. Even today the people of Kerala celebrate every year the happiness the people had under his rule in the ancient times. They sing praises of the egalitarian society that existed under Mahabali, which, translated from Malayalam goes: When Mahabali ruled over the country, all the people were the same. There were no lies or treachery or any other kind of dishonest dealings.
There was but one problem. Mahabali was a descendant of the ‘Asuras’ (the demons) and the ‘Devas’ (the angels) were jealous of his fame. So the Devas pleaded with Lord Vishnu (the Hindu God of Preservation) to get rid of Mahabali but Vishnu found it difficult as Mahabali had done nothing wrong. So He came as a little boy, Vamanan, and got rid of Mahabali by tricking him.
Vamanan came to Mahabali one morning when the king was finishing his daily prayers. After his prayers it was a custom with the king to grant the people who came and asked him for help whatever they wanted. That day he saw this little boy and asked him what he wanted. Vamanan asked the king for three measures of land to sit and meditate. Mahabali thought it was a small request and asked Vamanan to measure it himself and take it, at which Vamanan assumed his real form.
He was no longer a little boy and his first step covered the whole earth. With his second step he covered the sky and there was no room for the third step. Mahabali, who by now realised that Vamanan was not a little boy but God Incarnate, asked Him to put His foot (third step) on his (Mahabali’s) head to fulfil his word to give the ‘boy’ three measures of land. Vamanan put his foot on Mahabali’s head and pushed him down to the netherworld.
Mahabali asked Vamanan to grant him a last wish before he disappeared, which was that he should be allowed to come back and visit his people once a year. So it is believed that he comes back every year on the day of Thiruvonam (Onam for short) in the Hindu month which falls between August 15 and September 15. While the rest of the Hindu world celebrate ‘Deepavali’ or ‘Diwali’ as the most important festival in the year the people of Kerala consider ‘Onam’, the day their good king Mahabali is supposed to visit them every year, as the most important festival. Diwali is only a minor festival for them.
Born and brought up in a traditional Hindu home, I am very happy about my Hindu heritage. I have respect for all religions but I believe no other religion gives one the flexibility that Hinduism does. I can remain a strong Hindu and at the same time criticise what I see as a weakness in Hinduism. And the story of Mahabali is one story that I find difficult to accept in the Hindu mythology.
The Bhagavad Gita says whenever there is an increase in evil God comes into the world to get rid of the wicked and to preserve the virtuous. But in this case He came to get rid of the good King Mahabali. While the Hindu calendar marks the day as Vamana Jayanthi (birthday of Vamanan, who is considered the fifth incarnation of Vishnu) people in Kerala celebrate it as the day when Mahabali makes his yearly visit to see his former subjects because they consider their good king Mahabali to be more important than Vamanan who helped the Devas get rid of him (Mahabali).
The Devas did not want to accept that an Asura could be a good king and even better than any of them. So Mahabali had to go. This perhaps was an early example of colonialism, as defined by Ratu Mara, of one group thinking that only they know everything and nobody else can equal them in anyway.
The white colonials, for example, believe that the non-whites can do nothing good and right. In India they took credit even for the unification of India as one nation. They think it was the Indian railways introduced by the British that helped to unite that country, which used to be made up of several princely states, as a nation. It was only when I went to the University of Western Australia in 1987 I realised how strong such colonial feelings were. I had a supervisor in Perth who was an apologist for colonialism. He once confessed to me that he wanted to go to India to see the Bombay railway station! It intrigued me at first until I talked to my Irish friend, Meaghan. She thought it was quite natural coming from a colonial like him because they associate the Indian railways with British colonial rule.
I remember giving him a card at Christmas, which came soon after he said this, wishing him a Merry Christmas in which I also wrote: “I wish you an enjoyable study leave in London as you delve deeper and deeper into the workings of the colonial office. I also hope you would be able to get to India one day (‘the brightest jewel on the crown’) and stand in front of the Bombay railway station and visualise the glory that was the British Raj!”
It was true that colonial rule was coming to an end in Fiji but unfortunately colonialism as defined by Ratu Mara still continued with the regional university, the University of the South Pacific (USP) one of only two regional universities in the world, becoming the haven for neo-colonialism.
In our day we see the western people as the ones with such attitudes but there were others before them. The earliest example I can think of is the story of Mahabali in Hindu mythology, who is supposed to have ruled over the southernmost part of India, which today is the state of Kerala where I was born. Even today the people of Kerala celebrate every year the happiness the people had under his rule in the ancient times. They sing praises of the egalitarian society that existed under Mahabali, which, translated from Malayalam goes: When Mahabali ruled over the country, all the people were the same. There were no lies or treachery or any other kind of dishonest dealings.
There was but one problem. Mahabali was a descendant of the ‘Asuras’ (the demons) and the ‘Devas’ (the angels) were jealous of his fame. So the Devas pleaded with Lord Vishnu (the Hindu God of Preservation) to get rid of Mahabali but Vishnu found it difficult as Mahabali had done nothing wrong. So He came as a little boy, Vamanan, and got rid of Mahabali by tricking him.
Vamanan came to Mahabali one morning when the king was finishing his daily prayers. After his prayers it was a custom with the king to grant the people who came and asked him for help whatever they wanted. That day he saw this little boy and asked him what he wanted. Vamanan asked the king for three measures of land to sit and meditate. Mahabali thought it was a small request and asked Vamanan to measure it himself and take it, at which Vamanan assumed his real form.
He was no longer a little boy and his first step covered the whole earth. With his second step he covered the sky and there was no room for the third step. Mahabali, who by now realised that Vamanan was not a little boy but God Incarnate, asked Him to put His foot (third step) on his (Mahabali’s) head to fulfil his word to give the ‘boy’ three measures of land. Vamanan put his foot on Mahabali’s head and pushed him down to the netherworld.
Mahabali asked Vamanan to grant him a last wish before he disappeared, which was that he should be allowed to come back and visit his people once a year. So it is believed that he comes back every year on the day of Thiruvonam (Onam for short) in the Hindu month which falls between August 15 and September 15. While the rest of the Hindu world celebrate ‘Deepavali’ or ‘Diwali’ as the most important festival in the year the people of Kerala consider ‘Onam’, the day their good king Mahabali is supposed to visit them every year, as the most important festival. Diwali is only a minor festival for them.
Born and brought up in a traditional Hindu home, I am very happy about my Hindu heritage. I have respect for all religions but I believe no other religion gives one the flexibility that Hinduism does. I can remain a strong Hindu and at the same time criticise what I see as a weakness in Hinduism. And the story of Mahabali is one story that I find difficult to accept in the Hindu mythology.
The Bhagavad Gita says whenever there is an increase in evil God comes into the world to get rid of the wicked and to preserve the virtuous. But in this case He came to get rid of the good King Mahabali. While the Hindu calendar marks the day as Vamana Jayanthi (birthday of Vamanan, who is considered the fifth incarnation of Vishnu) people in Kerala celebrate it as the day when Mahabali makes his yearly visit to see his former subjects because they consider their good king Mahabali to be more important than Vamanan who helped the Devas get rid of him (Mahabali).
The Devas did not want to accept that an Asura could be a good king and even better than any of them. So Mahabali had to go. This perhaps was an early example of colonialism, as defined by Ratu Mara, of one group thinking that only they know everything and nobody else can equal them in anyway.
The white colonials, for example, believe that the non-whites can do nothing good and right. In India they took credit even for the unification of India as one nation. They think it was the Indian railways introduced by the British that helped to unite that country, which used to be made up of several princely states, as a nation. It was only when I went to the University of Western Australia in 1987 I realised how strong such colonial feelings were. I had a supervisor in Perth who was an apologist for colonialism. He once confessed to me that he wanted to go to India to see the Bombay railway station! It intrigued me at first until I talked to my Irish friend, Meaghan. She thought it was quite natural coming from a colonial like him because they associate the Indian railways with British colonial rule.
I remember giving him a card at Christmas, which came soon after he said this, wishing him a Merry Christmas in which I also wrote: “I wish you an enjoyable study leave in London as you delve deeper and deeper into the workings of the colonial office. I also hope you would be able to get to India one day (‘the brightest jewel on the crown’) and stand in front of the Bombay railway station and visualise the glory that was the British Raj!”
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