Srimad Bhagavatam — Ashtama Skandha, Shloka 1
Bali Mahārāja’s Empowerment and Conquest of Indra’s City
Prelude to Vāmana’s Petition
श्रीराजोवाच बले: पदत्रयं भूमे: कस्माद्धरिरयाचत । भूतेश्वर: कृपणवल्लब्धार्थोऽपि बबन्ध तम् ॥ १ ॥ एतद् वेदितुमिच्छामो महत्कौतूहलं हि न: । याच्ञेश्वरस्य पूर्णस्य बन्धनं चाप्यनागस: ॥ २ ॥
śrī-rājovāca baleḥ pada-trayaṁ bhūmeḥ kasmād dharir ayācata bhūteśvaraḥ kṛpaṇa-val labdhārtho ’pi babandha tam
Preguntó el Mahārāja Parīkṣit: Hari, el Señor de todo, ¿por qué pidió a Bali tres pasos de tierra como si fuera un pobre? Y aun después de recibir el don, ¿por qué Bhūteśvara lo arrestó y lo ató? Anhelo conocer el misterio de estas aparentes contradicciones: ¿cómo el perfecto Yajñeśvara encadenó a un inocente?
FAQs
Because the Lord’s Vāmana-līlā uses a seemingly small request to reveal His all-pervading supremacy and to bring Bali to complete surrender, transforming charity into pure devotion.
Parīkṣit wonders at this: the Lord may externally bind His devotee as part of His līlā, not out of cruelty, but to perfect the devotee’s surrender and to display divine justice and mercy together.
Offer what you have with integrity, accept reversals as spiritual tests, and deepen surrender—seeing that the Lord’s arrangements can purify pride and strengthen devotion.