From Hiranyakasipu to Amitabh Bachchan.
Once Rāvaṇa visited Bali who was under custody in Pātāla, and said to him, “I have come to save you from here. So get yourself free from the custody of Mahāviṣṇu, with my help.” Hearing this, Bali asked Rāvaṇa to fetch the two earrings of Hiraṇyakaśipu, which were shining like blazing fire a little away from them. Rāvaṇa moved forward to take them. But he fell unconscious. Bali caused him to recover and said: “These earrings were worn by my great grandfather Hiraṇyakaśipu. How could you, who are not even capable of taking his earrings, save me from his slayer, Viṣṇu? Viṣṇu is Almighty and All-powerful and Supreme Lord of everything.” Hearing this, Rāvaṇa was filled with shame and he returned. (Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa, Uttara Kāṇḍa, Prakṣipta Sarga).
Reading this might not raise any eyebrows at first. It is simply a story where Ravana’s arrogance is humbled. But once you look closely, the stranger it becomes, for here, Hiranyakasipu and Ravana are not two different individuals, they are the same — the Incarnations of Jaya, the gatekeeper of Vaikunta, who along with his brother Vijaya, was cursed to take three different births as enemies of their beloved Vishnu.
Then why is Ravana shown as no match for Hiranyakasipu. In the third and final birth, Jaya appeared as Sisupala, a mere king who is incomparable to the might of the previous two incarnations. Why this downward trend in power?
Hiranyakasipu belonged to the Satya Yuga, Ravana to Treta Yuga and Sisupala was of the Dvapara Yuga. So my immediate thought was that as time progressed, the beings kept getting less powerful. Why? Maybe with each new generation, the divine lineage kept getting diluted.
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We see this difference in power between beings of different yugas with the story of Hanuman (Treta) and Bhima (Dvapara) as well. Though brothers — being sons of Vayu — Bhima was unable to even budge Hanuman’s tail.
From the story of Kakudmi and Revathi, we learn that as time passed, people became shorter. At the end of the Kali Yuga, it is prophecised that people would only grow to a maximum height of 3 feet. This too points to the decreasing strength across the yugas.
Learning about this height difference answered another question which puzzled me. Bigfoot! No, not Mr. Sasquatch but the massive footprints found in various temples across India. These are claimed to be those of deities, particularly Hanuman.
Ancient temples isn’t the only place where we notice this tradition, it is present in the current age films as well. In Kalki 2898 AD (2024 film by Nag Ashwin), Aswatthama, the character portrayed by Amitabh Bachchan, is depicted as 9 feet tall, as he belonged to the Dvapara Yuga whereas the film takes place in the Kali Yuga.
And that is how I reached from Hiranyakasipu to Amitabh Bachchan.
P.S. — I believe this might be common knowledge to many but was new to me.
