Shloka 10
बलिस्तु यजते यज्ञमश्चवमेधं महीं गतः । येडन्येडधस्था महीस्थाश्व ते न दग्धा महासुरा:
balis tu yajate yajñam aśvamedhaṁ mahīṁ gataḥ | ye ’nyed adhasthā mahī-sthāś ca te na dagdhā mahāsurāḥ ||
उस समय राजा बलि पृथ्वी पर आकर अश्वमेध यज्ञ कर रहे थे; इसलिए जो महासुर उनके साथ पृथ्वी पर थे और जो अन्य पाताल में स्थित थे, वही दग्ध होने से बच गये।
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights the protective and status-conferring power of sacred action (yajña) and location: Bali’s presence on earth performing a royal sacrifice becomes the contextual reason some Asuras are spared, suggesting that ritual order and circumstance can shape outcomes even amid cosmic upheaval.
Bhishma explains that when a destructive burning occurred, the Asuras who were with King Bali on earth—where he was conducting an Aśvamedha—and those who remained in the lower regions were not consumed; others, by implication, were burned.