Shloka 79
धर्मस्य बहुद्वारत्वम् — Nārada’s Audience with Indra (Śānti-parva 340)
विरोचनस्य बलवान् बलि: पुत्रो महासुर:
virocanasya balavān baliḥ putro mahāsuraḥ |
भीष्म ने कहा—“विरोचन के यहाँ एक बलवान पुत्र उत्पन्न होगा—महासुर बलि। वह उसी नाम से विख्यात होगा। देवता, असुर और राक्षसों सहित समस्त लोक भी उसे मार न सकेंगे; और वह इन्द्र को राज्य से भ्रष्ट कर देगा।”
(भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights the instability of worldly sovereignty and the cosmic contest over power: even Indra’s rule can be overturned when a being of extraordinary might arises. It implicitly frames kingship as contingent and subject to larger moral-cosmic forces rather than mere entitlement.
Bhīṣma foretells the birth of Bali, the powerful son of Virocana, describing his near-invincibility and his future act of displacing Indra from rulership, situating Bali within the broader Deva–Asura struggle for dominion.