Shloka 4

Adhyāya 223: Nāradasya Guṇa-kathana

Catalogue of Nārada’s Virtues

Devanagari script

यस्य सम ददतो वित्तं न कदाचन हीयते । तं॑ बलिं नाधिगच्छामि ब्रद्म॒ुन्नाचक्ष्व मे बलिम्‌

Transliteration

yasya sama dadato vittaṃ na kadācana hīyate | taṃ baliṃ nādhigacchāmi brahman ācakṣva me balim ||

Translation

Bhīṣma sprach: „O Brahmane, jenen König Bali — dessen Schatz, obgleich er Reichtum in gleichem Maße verschenkte, niemals schwand — vermag ich trotz aller Suche nicht zu finden. Sage mir, wo Bali ist.“

Word by Word

• {'yasya': 'of whom

• whose', 'sama': 'equally

• in an even manner', 'dadato': 'while giving

• of one who gives (genitive of present participle)', 'vittam': 'wealth

• treasure', 'na': 'not', 'kadācana': 'ever

• at any time', 'hīyate': 'diminishes

• becomes less', 'tam': 'that (him)', 'balim': 'Bali (name of a king)', 'na adhigacchāmi': 'I do not reach/find

• I cannot locate', 'brahman': 'O Brahman

• O learned priest/sage (vocative)', 'ācakṣva': 'tell

• point out (imperative)', 'me': 'to me

Speaker

भीष्म उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Bhīṣma
• Bali
• Brahman (a priest/sage addressed)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse highlights the ideal of impartial generosity (sama-dāna) and the paradoxical spiritual principle that righteous giving does not truly impoverish the giver; it points toward the karmic and ethical stature of a king famed for inexhaustible charity.

What is happening in the narrative?

Bhīṣma addresses a Brahman interlocutor, expressing that he cannot locate the renowned donor-king Bali despite searching, and asks the Brahman to reveal Bali’s whereabouts—implying an inquiry into Bali’s posthumous state or the destination earned by his deeds.