Shloka 83
धर्मस्य बहुद्वारत्वम् — Nārada’s Audience with Indra (Śānti-parva 340)
वह अपने मन्त्रियोंके मना करनेपर भी मुझपर प्रसन्न होनेके कारण वह वर मुझे दे देगा। ज्यों ही संकल्पका जल मेरे हाथपर आयेगा, त्यों ही तीन पगोंसे त्रिलोकीको नापकर उसका सारा राज्य अमिततेजस्वी इन्द्रको समर्पित कर दूँगा। नारद! इस प्रकार मैं सम्पूर्ण देवताओंको अपने-अपने स्थानोंपर स्थापित कर दूँगा ।। बलिं चैव करिष्यामि पातालतलवासिनम् | दानवं च बलिं श्रेष्ठमवध्यं सर्वदैवतै:
baliṃ caiva kariṣyāmi pātālatala-vāsinam | dānavaṃ ca baliṃ śreṣṭham avadhyaṃ sarvadaivataiḥ ||
I shall indeed make Bali—dwelling in the netherworld—the foremost of the Dānavas, a Bali whom all the gods must ever regard as inviolable. In doing so, the cosmic order is restored: each being is set in its proper station, and power is restrained by a vow that honors merit, promise, and rightful place rather than mere force.
(भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
Even when power shifts, dharma requires honoring rightful status and the moral force of vows/boons; stability comes from placing each being in an appropriate station and restraining violence through principled inviolability.
The speaker declares an intention to establish Bali, now in Pātāla, as the foremost among the Dānavas and to ensure that all the gods treat him as not to be slain—an act aimed at restoring balance and proper order among divine and anti-divine powers.