Canto 8: Withdrawal of the Cosmic Creations | Chapter 15: Bali Mahārāja Conquers the Heavenly Planets |
Bhaktivedanta VedaBase: Śrīmad Bhāgavatam 8.15.31
eṣa vipra-balodarkaḥ
sampraty ūrjita-vikramaḥ
teṣām evāpamānena
sānubandho vinańkṣyati
SYNONYMS
eṣaḥ — this (Bali Mahārāja); vipra-bala-udarkaḥ — flourishing because of the brahminical power invested in him; samprati — at the present moment; ūrjita-vikramaḥ — extremely powerful; teṣām — of the same brāhmaṇas; eva — indeed; apamānena — by insult; sa-anubandhaḥ — with friends and assistants; vinańkṣyati — will be vanquished.
TRANSLATION
Bali Mahārāja has now become extremely powerful because of the benedictions given him by the brāhmaṇas, but when he later insults the brāhmaṇas, he will be vanquished, along with his friends and assistants.
PURPORT
Bali Mahārāja and Indra were enemies. Therefore, when Bṛhaspati, the spiritual master of the demigods, predicted that Bali Mahārāja would be vanquished when he insulted the brāhmaṇas by whose grace he had become so powerful, Bali Mahārāja's enemies were naturally anxious to know when that opportune moment would come. To pacify King Indra, Bṛhaspati assured him that the time would certainly come, for Bṛhaspati could see that in the future Bali Mahārāja would defy the orders of Śukrācārya in order to pacify Lord Viṣṇu, Vāmanadeva. Of course, to advance in Kṛṣṇa consciousness, one can take all risks. To please Vāmanadeva, Bali Mahārāja risked defying the orders of his spiritual master, Śukrācārya. Because of this, he would lose all his property, yet because of devotional service to the Lord, he would get more than he expected, and in the future, in the eighth manvantara, he would occupy the throne of Indra again.
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His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda, Founder Ācārya of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness