Shloka 79
धर्मस्य बहुद्वारत्वम् — Nārada’s Audience with Indra (Śānti-parva 340)
विरोचनस्य बलवान् बलि: पुत्रो महासुर:,विरोचनके एक बलवान पुत्र होगा, जो महासुर बलिके नामसे विख्यात होगा। उसे देवता, असुर तथा राक्षसोंसहित सम्पूर्ण लोक भी नहीं मार सकेंगे। वह इन्द्रको राज्यसे भ्रष्ट कर देगा
virocanasya balavān baliḥ putro mahāsuraḥ |
Bhīṣma berkata: “Kepada Virocana akan lahir seorang putera yang perkasa—Bali, Asura agung—dan masyhur dengan nama itu. Bahkan seluruh alam, termasuk para dewa, Asura dan Rākṣasa, tidak akan mampu membunuhnya; dan dia akan menjatuhkan Indra dari kedaulatannya.”
(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.