Balarama’s mother, DEVAKI, was the wife of
VASUDEVA, minister to the evil king Kamsa. When
Kamsa learned that a son of Devaki’s would
eventually kill him, he had the couple guarded
and had six of Devaki’s children killed in succes-
sion. Miraculously, however, the seventh child,
Balarama, was transferred as an embryo into the
womb of Rohini, a second wife of Vasudeva.
When Krishna, the eighth child, was born, the
guards miraculously fell asleep, and Vasudeva was
able to deliver his new child to a woman from a
cowherd family, YASHODA.
There are few stories about Balarama indepen-
dent of those that associate him with Krishna. He
is said to have gone to the ocean to meditate when
he was very old, when Adishesha emerged from
his mouth and returned to the ocean whence he
had emerged.
Iconographically, BALARAMA is known as “Rama
with the Plow” and carries a plow and axe in
either hand.
Further reading: Cornelia Dimmitt and J. A. B. van
Buitenen, Classical Hindu Mythology: A Reader in the
Sanskrit Puranas (Philadelphia: Temple University
Press, 1978); E. Washburn Hopkins, Epic Mythology
(Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass, 1986); N. P. Joshi, Iconogra-
phy of Balarama (New Delhi: Abhinav, 1979).
Bali, Hinduism in
Bali, an island in the Indian Ocean immediately
east of Java, is today a part of the country of INDO-
NESIA. Unlike the rest of predominantly Muslim
Indonesia, however, Bali is overwhelming Hindu.
Its unique history reaches back to the spread
of Hinduism to Java in the fourth century C.E.,
the rise of Hindu rulers on Java by the seventh
century, and the spread of Hinduism to Bali in
the 11th century. The Hindu Majapahit kingdom,
which emerged in eastern Java in the 13th century.
at its peak ruled all of Java, Bali, and Madura.
However, its upward trajectory was stymied by
the arrival and spread of Islam into the Indone-
sian islands. In the 15th century, Islam pushed
the Majapahits out of Java and the once-powerful
kingdom retreated to Bali, where it survived while
Java was divided among rival Muslim sultans.
Hindu rule of Bali lasted until the mid-19th
century, when the Dutch conquered the island.
They held it only until the establishment of
the Republic of Indonesia after World War II.
Much of the Hindu leadership remained in place
under Dutch rule. After the Dutch relinquished
administration of the island the Hindu culture
remained protected by the Indonesian govern-
ment. A government-sponsored organization, the
Parishad Hindu Dharma Indonesia (PHDI), or
Hindu Council of Religious Affairs, is the high-
est religious body on Bali and has been given the
power to make decisions on all spiritual matters.
Since the 16th century, Hinduism in Bali has
developed somewhat in isolation from its roots
in India, at the same time absorbing a variety of
elements from the pre-Hindu indigenous religion
of the island. These two factors shaped a distinc-
tive form of Hindu life and practice in the islands,
whose Hinduism is a blend of SHAIVISM, Bud-
dhism, and ancient ancestor worship. The deity
SHIVA is primarily associated with the ancestors of
kings; consistently with the indigenous religion
of Bali, Hindus there do not distinguish between
the ancestors of rulers and the gods. The Balinese
do not hold to the vegetarian dietary practices of
India; instead, they eat such foods as beef, pork,
and dog.
Balinese Hindus believe in Sanghyang Widhi,
the omnipotent Supreme Being, who manifests
in three main forms as BRAHMA the Creator,
VISHNU the Preserver, and SHIVA the Destroyer.
However, this deity is not directly worshipped
through cult or prayer, and none of the Balinese
temples is dedicated to him. Among the deities
to whom worship is directed, Shiva is the most
prominent. He is usually worshipped in associa-
tion with one or more local deities whose gender
is indicated by their name—Dewa (male) or Dewi
(female). The deities are acknowledged throughK 66 Bali, Hinduism in