The Concise Oxford Dictionary of World Religions (2612 page)

 
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(Skt., ‘dwarf’). In Hindu mythology, the form (the fifth)
avat
ra
which
Vi
u
adopted in order to trick the demon king
Bali
into restoring the world to the gods. When Bali agreed to give him three paces of land, the dwarf grew to an enormous size so that his first two steps covered earth and heaven, and Bali had to offer his own head for the third step. (This cosmic version of V
mana is known as
Trivikrama
, Skt., ‘three steps’.) V
mana is the fifth
avat
ra
in the standard list, and his is the only avat
ra story which has a clear connection with the Vi
u of the
g Veda
.

 
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