Shloka 84

धर्मस्य बहुद्वारत्वम् — Nārada’s Audience with Indra (Śānti-parva 340)

Devanagari script

साथ ही सम्पूर्ण देवताओंके लिये अवध्य श्रेष्ठ दानव बलिको भी पातालतलका निवासी बना दूँगा ।। त्रेतायुगे भविष्यामि रामो भृगुकुलोद्वह: । क्षत्रं चोत्सादयिष्यामि समृद्धबलवाहनम्‌,फिर त्रेतायुगमें भूगुकुलभूषण परशुरामके रूपमें प्रकट होऊँगा और सेना तथा सवारियोंसे सम्पन्न क्षत्रियकुलका संहार कर डालूँगा

Transliteration

sātha hī sampūrṇa-devatābhyaḥ avadhyaḥ śreṣṭha-dānavaḥ balir api pāṭāla-tala-nivāsīṃ kariṣyāmi || tretā-yuge bhaviṣyāmi rāmo bhṛgu-kulodvahaḥ | kṣatraṃ cotsādayiṣyāmi samṛddha-bala-vāhanam ||

Translation

Lebih lagi, aku akan menempatkan Bali—yang utama di antara para Daitya, yang bahkan para dewa anggap tak dapat dibinasakan—untuk tinggal di Pātāla. Dan pada zaman Tretā aku akan lahir sebagai Rāma, kemuliaan wangsa Bhṛgu (Paraśurāma), dan akan mencabut hingga ke akar tatanan Kṣatriya, meski kaya akan bala tentara dan tunggangan.

Word by Word

• [{'term': 'sampūrṇa-devatābhyaḥ', 'definition': 'for all the gods

• in the sight of the entire host of deities'}, {'term': 'avadhyaḥ', 'definition': 'invulnerable, not to be slain'}, {'term': 'śreṣṭha-dānavaḥ', 'definition': 'the foremost of the Dānavas/Daityas (powerful anti-god beings)'}, {'term': 'baliḥ', 'definition': 'Bali, the famed Daitya king'}, {'term': 'pāṭāla-tala', 'definition': 'the netherworld region (Pātāla)'}, {'term': 'tretā-yuge', 'definition': 'in the Tretā Yuga (the second of the four world-ages)'}, {'term': 'bhaviṣyāmi', 'definition': 'I shall become / I shall be born'}, {'term': 'rāmaḥ', 'definition': 'Rāma

• here specifically Paraśurāma (Bhārgava Rāma)'}, {'term': 'bhṛgu-kulodvahaḥ', 'definition': 'the upholder/glory of the Bhṛgu lineage'}, {'term': 'kṣatram', 'definition': 'the Kṣatriya order

• the warrior-ruling class'}, {'term': 'utsādayiṣyāmi', 'definition': 'I shall extirpate, uproot, destroy'}, {'term': 'samṛddha', 'definition': 'prosperous, well-equipped, abundant'}, {'term': 'bala-vāhanam', 'definition': 'having armies and vehicles/mounts

Speaker

(भीष्म उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Bhīṣma
• Bali
• Devatāḥ (the gods)
• Pātāla
• Tretā-yuga
• Rāma (Paraśurāma / Bhārgava Rāma)
• Bhṛgu-kula
• Kṣatriya (kṣatra)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse presents the idea that when worldly power—whether demonic sovereignty (Bali) or a militarily dominant warrior order (kṣatra)—oversteps dharma, a higher corrective force may intervene across the yugas to restore moral balance, even through harsh measures.

What is happening in the narrative?

The speaker (Bhīṣma) recounts a divine resolve: Bali will be made a resident of Pātāla, and in the Tretā age the same power will manifest as Bhārgava Rāma (Paraśurāma) to annihilate the Kṣatriyas, despite their great military resources.