Shloka 35
दैव–पुरुषकार-प्रश्नः
Daiva–Puruṣakāra Inquiry: Fate and Human Effort
बलिदवीैरोचनिर्बद्धों धर्मपाशेन दैवतै: । विष्णो: पुरुषकारेण पातालसदन: कृत:,विरोचनकुमार बलिको देवताओंने धर्मपाशसे बाँध लिया और भगवान् विष्णुके पुरुषार्थसे वे पातालवासी बना दिये गये
Balir vairocanir baddho dharmapāśena daivataiḥ | Viṣṇoḥ puruṣakāreṇa pātālasadanaḥ kṛtaḥ ||
Bhīṣma said: Bali, the son of Virocana, was bound by the gods with the noose of Dharma; and through Viṣṇu’s decisive exertion he was made a dweller in Pātāla. The episode shows that even mighty rulers are restrained when they transgress the rightful order, and that divine intervention restores balance—often by reassigning power rather than merely destroying it.
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
Power is not self-justifying: when authority violates dharma, it becomes legitimately restrainable (‘dharmapāśa’). The verse also highlights that divine agency (Viṣṇu’s puruṣakāra) restores equilibrium—sometimes by relocating and limiting a ruler’s domain rather than annihilating him.
Bhīṣma recalls the fate of Bali, son of Virocana: the gods bind him with the ‘noose of Dharma,’ and through Viṣṇu’s effective intervention Bali is made to dwell in Pātāla (the netherworld), indicating a divinely enforced curtailment and reassignment of his sovereignty.