Mahabali was an Asura king, grandson of the renowned devotee Prahlada, and himself a great devotee of the Lord. He routed the arch-rivals of Asuras, the Devas, and reigned supreme over the three worlds. He ruled ably, was loved by friends, feared by enemies, and respected by all. Under his rule, people were free from suffering and sorrow. When requested by the mother of Devas to restore to her sons their heavenly kingdom, Lord Vishnu got back the worlds from Mahabali in the guise of a Brahmin boy asking for alms, and the king who gladly gave away the worlds in charity was blessed with an incomparable abode by the Lord in the world of Suthalam. There, it is believed, he rules on to this day. 

Centuries later, after the war of Kurukshetra, as Yudhishtira ruled over his kingdom, he felt proud about his own righteousness. One day, Sri Krishna offered to take Yudhishtira to meet Mahabali, and the former was excited about meeting such a celebrated legendary ruler. Krishna took Yudhishtira to Suthalam, and Mahabali received them with due respect. Yudhishtira was impressed by the riches and grandeur of the palace and felt that his own palace seemed like a hut in comparison. Still, he was sure that in righteousness, even the great Mahabali cannot outmatch him. Having accepted the honours offered by the Asura king and being comfortably seated on a throne, Sri Krishna introduced Yudhishtira as the great emperor of Lunar dynasty, who fed 1000 brahmins in charity every day. Yudhishtira suppressed a smile of satisfaction on seeing the spark of astonished disbelief in Mahabli’s eyes as he was thus praised by Sri Krishna. 

Impressed, Mahabali remarks with out as much as a tinge of disrespect, “That is truly amazing. When I was ruling, I would search the length and breadth of my empire, to find a single person who would accept charity or be in need of it, and fail miserably”. Yudhishtira’s pride was crushed under the weight of this lesson in good governance that he learned from Mahabali. A ruler’s duty is to ensure that his subjects are able to live in peace and earn a living with dignity. On returning back to his kingdom, Yudhishtira was a much more efficient and effective King, and his people prospered. 

Before pushing the Food Security Bill through, and claiming it as an achievement of the UPA government, I hope they would consider this lesson from Mahabali and do some introspection to realize that it is their poor governance and corruption that has led our nation to this pitiful state where a large majority is still under poverty, unable to fend for themselves, and in need of such promises of token support that the government throws them from time to time and rarely fulfills. I hope the government sees that this bill is needed to satisfy their own pride and strengthen the ruling coalition’s misplaced sense of magnanimity than to address the need of the masses.