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2024-04-20, 3:42 PM |
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Chapter
22: Bali
Mahârâja
Surrenders
His
Life
(1) S'rî S'uka said: 'Thus having run into
trouble with the Supreme Lord oh King, Bali the Asura king, was despite of
his awkward position an unperturbed soul who replied positively with the following words. (2) S'rî
Bali
said:
'If,
oh
Lord
Praised
in
the
Verses,
Your
Goodness
thinks
that what I have promised proved to
be false oh Greatest
of the Gods, then let me, in order to be just in this matter and not to
have turned to cheating, offer You my head to put the third
step of Your lotus feet. (3) I am not as afraid of
residing in hell or of being bound in fetters, of facing hard to
endure distress or of a lack of funds, as I am of
the punishment of the dishonor I now have to endure by You [compare B.G. 2:
34 and 6.17: 28]. (4) I consider it the most exalted thing to be
punished by the worshipable Lord, for that is something one's mother,
father, brother or friends cannot offer [see 10.14: 8]. (5)
You are of us Asuras the unseen supreme guru who gave us the vision many of us were deprived
of in our blind arrogance. (6-7) Many of the ones who apart from the wisdom fixed their
intelligence upon You in a constant enmity, achieved the state of
perfection, a position which, as is known, equals that of the yogis.
Despite of being punished by Your Lordship who are so full of wonders, I am therefore not ashamed
- nor do I suffer that much - from thus being bound with Varuna's ropes. (8) My
grandfather
[Prahlâda] who is
appreciated by Your devotees, is famed all around for being a saint, as
someone having You, the Supreme One, [as his shelter] when he had to
suffer all the nasty matters that were plotted by his father who was
set against You [see 7.5]. (9) Of
what use is this body that
leaves you in the end? What is the service of all those profiteers who
passing as relatives snatch away the inheritance? What is the need of a
wife who only drags one more into the material world? And what is for a person certain of death the use of wasting his life with domestic attachments [see also 5.5:
8 and B.G. 18:
66]? (10) My
grandfather the great devotee who so deep in his wisdom was afraid of worldly association, was free from fear in his surrender to
the
immovable refuge of Your lotus feet oh my Lord, oh Best of the
Best Ones, even though You have put an end to his own kind. (11) I,
who by providence was
arrested and with force was
bereft of all
my wealth, [to my luck] have
now also been brought under the shelter of You, the enemy of our
family. The
fact that wealth is a temporary thing and that life may end any moment
is something a narrow-minded
person does not think about [see 7.5:
30].'
(12) S'rî S'uka said: 'When Bali thus
discussed
his position, Prahlâda, the favorite of the Lord [see 7.9], manifested himself right there oh best of
the Kurus, like being the moon that rises in the sky. (13) Indrasena
[Bali],
saw his grandfather, the
best of the
auspicious ones, present there in all his glory: with eyes as wide as
lotus petals,
beautifully built, dressed in saffron and with a body as dark as
collyrium and
with long arms. (14) Bound
with the
ropes of Varuna he could not as before offer the respect he owed him
and thus he offered his
obeisances timidly bending his face
downwards with eyes full of
tears. (15) The
moment the
great devotee saw the Supreme Master, the Lord sitting
there being worshiped by followers like Sunanda, he approached Him with
his head bent low and then moved to tears in his jubilation paid his
respects by falling flat to the ground. (16) S'rî
Prahlâda
said: 'Your Lordship who
granted Bali this so very
great position of Indra, today has taken it all back and that is
something I consider most beautiful. By denying him his opulence You have done him a
great favor, because that was
what stood in the way of his
self-realization. (17) Who
can properly recognize the purpose of his soul when even an educated,
self-controlled person is bewildered by his opulence? I offer You Nârâyana, the Lord of
the Universe,
the
omnipresent silent witness, my respectful obeisances.'
(18) S'rî S'uka said: 'Oh King, then the mighty Hiranyagarbha [Brahmâ]
proceeded to speak to Madhusûdana [the Lord] in such a way that Prahlâda who stood
there with folded hands could hear it. (19) But
[that very moment] Bali's
chaste wife who saw that her husband was arrested oh King,
offered
heavily
distraught
because
of her fear with
folded hands her obeisances to Upendra [Lord Vâmana] and
addressed Him with her face turned downwards. (20) S'rî Vindhyâvali
said: 'You have created this threefold universe for the
sake of Your pastimes.
You are its proprietor, but now foolish people and others oh
Controller, ignorantly imposing themselves, question the doer. What do
these shameless people have to offer You, the Supreme Creator, Master
and
Annihilator [compare B.G. 16:
13-15 and 18: 61]?'
(21) Lord Brahmâ said: 'Oh Goodness of all
Living Beings, oh Controller of Each, oh God of Gods, oh All-pervading
One, please release this man now who has lost everything. Someone like
him does not deserve it to be punished. (22) He
gave to You all the lands
and all the worlds. With a firm resolve everything he has achieved in his piety has been
offered to You with an
intelligence free from hesitation;
all
that
he
possessed, even his
body. (23) At
Your feet he honestly offered water,
grasses
and flower buds. How can such a worshiper despite of his most exalted
offerings, despite of his worship, after generously offering
You the three
worlds, deserve the pain given to him? He not being duplicitous
deserves the highest destination
[B.G. 9:
26]!'
(24) The Supreme Lord said: 'Oh Brahmâ, it is
My mercy to take away the riches from him who is lead by it, for
someone under the influence of material opulence takes pride in
it and looks down on the entire world! (25) When the
living
entity, dependent because of its karma, from birth to birth moves
through different species of life, it longs to attain the human life
form [see also B.G. 13: 22]. (26) It is
[also] to be
regarded My grace when a person because of his [human] birth, activities, age,
physique, education, achievement, wealth and other opulences then not
has hardened in this pride. (27) Matters
as
a
high
birth
and
such
that
are
the
cause
of arrogance and bewilderment, [for
a normal person] together constitute impediments for
[attaining] full beatitude, but no, My
devotee is not disturbed by them
[see also 4.8-12]. (28) Bali,
this best and most
famous devotee among the Dânavas and
Daityas, already surpassed the insurmountable deluding material energy.
Despite of losing his wealth he was not taken aback. (29-30) Having lost all his riches, having fallen
from his superior
position, being reviled and arrested by his enemies, being deserted by
his family
and relatives, having suffered all kinds of uncommon hardship, being
rebuked
and cursed by his guru, he, fixed in his vow, did not forsake his
truthfulness, the dharma that I so deceitfully for the sake of the gift
spoke about. True to his word this man never gave it up. (31) Through
Me he has achieved a position that even for the immortal ones is most
difficult to obtain; during the time
of Sâvarni Manu [see 8.13:
10-11] he will become
the Indra enjoying My full protection. (32) Till then he may go and live in
Sutala [see 5.24: 18],
the place created by [the heavenly architect] Vis'vakarmâ, where
it
because of My supervision has been made impossible for the inhabitants
to suffer
psychically or physically any weariness, exhaustion or defeat. (33) Oh
Indrasena, oh
Mahârâja, please go now oh ruler. May there
in Sutala, the place so
desirable for even the denizens of heaven, for you surrounded by your people, be all
auspiciousness. (34) None
of the controllers
of the worlds will be able to overrule your command there,
not to speak of the common man, for
I with my cakra will personally take care of all the Daityas
who defy your rule. (35) I will protect you, your associates and your
property. In every respect I will always stand by your side oh great
hero. You will be able to see Me there! (36) In
that place the foolishness
from being associated with the Asura mentality of the
Daityas and Dânavas, will disappear immediately by observing My excellence.'
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