In the story of Vamanadeva, we find an interesting passage where Lord Vamanadeva begs Bali Maharaja for three steps of land in the measure of His steps.

Bali Maharaja had invaded the celestial planets and taken them from the demigods. However, although siding with the demons, Bali Maharaja was a pure devotee, who appeared in the lineage of Prahalada Maharaja. The Lord thus decided to act in a way that allowed Him to return the celestial planets to the demigods, restoring the universal order, but at the same time bless Bali Maharaja.

Appearing as a dwarf, the Lord obtained an audience of Bali Maharaja, who was happy to give him some boom. When the Lord asked for just three steps of land, Bali Maharaja was amused and encouraged Him to ask for more. The Lord was however adamant, arguing that as a brahmacary he didn’t need more than that. Of course, being all-powerful the Lord was able to expand His form and thus cover the three planetary systems with just two steps, but there is a hidden meaning in the Lord asking for just three steps of land, which can teach us an important point.

It happens that we usually need much less to live than we normally think. The secret is to learn to live with little, so we will be satisfied with what comes naturally. As the Lord explains: “One should be satisfied with whatever he achieves by his previous destiny, for discontent can never bring happiness. A person who is not self-controlled will not be happy even with possessing the three worlds.” (SB 8.19.24)

But why did He ask for three steps of land? Why not five, or seven, or nine? Why not just two? The point about the three steps is that this is the amount of land one needs to lay down and sleep comfortably. This is thus the biggest amount of space one will ever need during his life. In all other situations, be it standing, seated, or walking, he will always need less than that.

When we stop to think about it, we can start to better understand the mentality of truly renounced people. Normally we want to reserve a track of land to ourselves and build a wall or fence around it, so other people may not encroach into our property, but a renounced person understands that nothing really belongs to him, and thus he just uses what is necessary for himself at each point, and the maximum land we will factually need at any given moment is just three steps by the measurement of our legs. It’s only because of a concept of false proprietorship that we think we need more than that, and this pastime teaches this. Playing the part of a perfect brahmacary, Lord Vamanadeva begged for just what was needed, not more. Of course, being the Supreme Personality of Godhead, His steps were quite big, but this is a different subject 🙂

I realized this particular point at some point in the past while doing traveling sankirtan. My van was exactly three steps long. At first, I thought it was an absurdly small space, but over time I realized that it was actually exactly what was needed. The space was sufficient not only to sleep but to put books, to cook, to dress, to chant japa, etc. Naturally, if we get more, we can accept it and use it for Krsna, but if nature gives us little, we should be able to live peacefully according to what we are getting.