SRIMAD BHAGAVATAM: CANTO 8

(1) S'rî S'uka said: 'After the great and exalted soul [of Bali], who carried the approval of all the saints, thus was addressed by the Original, Oldest Person, spoke he full of devotion with folded hands, with tears in his eyes and a faltering voice. (2) S'rî Bali said: 'How wonderful it is that, in just attempting to offer my respect to the regulative principles as observed by pure devotees, it for a fallen Asura like me, endowed with Your causeless mercy, has become possible what before today could not be achieved by the godly or the leaders of the world!'

(3) S'rî S'uka said: 'Having said this to the Lord offered he Him, Lord Brahmâ and Lord S'iva his obeisances and entered Bali released and that way satisfied with his associates next Sutala. (4) And so did the Supreme Lord who, fulfilling Aditi's desire, had given back to king Indra his supremacy over the heavenly worlds, [see 8.16: 11-17] rule the entire Universe. (5) Prahlâda who in his ecstatic devotion had overheard how his descendant, his grandson Bali, had achieved His mercy and was released from the bondage, then addressed as follows [the Supreme Personality]. (6) S'rî Prahlâda said: 'With this benediction, which could not be achieved by Lord Brahmâ, by the Goddess of Fortune or by Lord S'iva - not to mention others -, have You for us Asuras become the Protector Against All Misery, the One whose feet are worshiped by those who are revered throughout the universe! (7) Lord Brahmâ and others, o Shelter of All, enjoy Your grace by the taste of the honey of serving the lotus of Your feet; how could we, guilty escapists born from envy, achieve the position that is granted by the merciful glance of Your Lordship? (8) O how wonderful are all the activities of Your unlimited spiritual potency: in Your pastimes are You, expanding in service, the One who created all the worlds, o Lord pervading all and equal to all; to be undivided is the nature of Your love for the devotees as You are by nature the desire tree [see B.G. 9: 29].'

(9) The Supreme Lord said: 'My son Prahlâda, all good to you, please go and enjoy the place Sutala and rejoice there in happiness with your grandson, relatives and friends! (10) Situated there will you have the constant vision of Me holding the club and seeing Me thus will the bondage of fruitive action by the great delight be vanquished.'

(11-12) S'rî S'uka said: 'Prahlâda, clear of intelligence, accepted with folded hands in consent the order of the Supreme Lord, o King, and after he, the Master of all the leading Asuras, had circumambulated the Original Person and offered his obeisances, entered he together with Bali with His permission the great place Sutala. (13) The Lord thereafter said to S'ukrâcârya who in the assembly of brahmin followers sat close to Him, Nârâyana, in a group of priests [brahma, hotâ, udgâtâ and adhvaryu]: (14) 'O brahmin, please describe the karmic flaws of your disciple Bali who performs the sacrifices, for those karmic troubles [see 8.20: 15] will be neutralized under the supervison of the brahmins.'

(15) S'rî S'ukra said: 'What would be the wrong of him who in all respects was of worship unto Your Lordship who art the master of all fruitive action; You are the Controller and Enjoyer of all sacrifices [see also 4.31: 14, 1.2: 13 and B.G. 5: 25].

(16) To the time and place, the recipient and the paraphernalia there can be weaknesses with the mantras and following the principles, but it is all made faultless by regularly with one another repeating [in song and lecture] the glories of Your Lordship [*]. (17) O Supreme One, because You ordered him was Bali without faults though and must I follow to Your order as it is the most auspicious and supreme for each person to fold one's hands to Your regular order.'

(18) S'rî S'uka said: 'Thus to the order of the Lord offering his obeisances set Usanâ [S'ukrâcârya, see 4.1: 45] the mightiest himself together with the best of the brahmins to the task of compensating for the limp sacrifice that Bali made to the Lord. (19) O King, this way from Bali having begged the land delivered the Lord as Vâmana to His godbrother the great Indra the places of the gods that had been taken by the others. (20-21) The master of the founding fathers Lord Brahmâ, together with the godly, the saints, the forefathers, each and all of his sons ['Lord S'iva and Kârttikeya'], the Manus and all the great leaders like Daksha, Bhrigu and Angirâ, accepted for the pleasure of Kas'yapa and Aditi [as the parents of Vâmana] and for the good of all living beings and worlds, Lord Vâmana as the supreme leader of all local authorities. (22-23) Of the Veda, of all gods, of all religion, of all fame, of all opulence, of all auspiciousness, of all vows being the ones most expert in elevating to the higher life paved they in that time the way for Upendra as the master for all purposes and that made all living beings extremely happy, o ruler of man. (24) Indra thereafter with all the local leaders putting no one but Lord Vâmana in front to travel the high path of the divine ['the heavenly vehicle'] thus took, approved by Lord Brahmâ, with Him to the heavenly world. (25) Upon regaining the three worlds enjoyed Indra thus under the protection of Vâmanadeva the opulence and supremacy he was used to and had he nothing to fear from the Asuras. (26-27) Brahmâ, each and all of his sons, Bhrigu and the others, the munis, o King and the forefathers, all living beings, the perfected and the angels ['who travel the sky'] and such, glorified all together the uncommon and wonderful, praiseworthy deeds of Lord Vishnu and Aditi as well and then left for each their own world.

(28) Hearing, o pleasure of the dynasty, of all these activities of Lord Urukrama [the Lord 'of the great steps'] that I described to you, wipes away all consequences of sin. (29) To the measure of the glories of Him so great in His steps may a person try to count all the atoms of the planet earth; no mortal bound to be born again, nor a mortal of rebirth, is capable of that so stated the great saint [Vasishthha Muni] it in his mantras concerning the Original Person [here Lord Râma, see also B.G. 10: 42 and **]? (30) Anyone who hears about and keeps listening to the stories about this God worshiped by the gods, this Lord Hari whose works throughout all His incarnations are equally wonderful, will attain the supreme destination. (31) Anyone who does this should, in his engagement of service to the gods, the forefathers or else the contentment of human togetherness, know that wherever and whenever these descriptions are met, that will bring all happiness one can find in the world.'

S'rî S'uka said: 'After the great and exalted soul [of Bali], who carried the approval of all the saints, thus was addressed by the Original, Oldest Person, spoke he full of devotion with folded hands, with tears in his eyes and a faltering voice.

S'ukadeva Gosvâmî said: When the supreme, ancient, eternal Personality of Godhead had thus spoken to Bali Mahârâja, who is universally accepted as a pure devotee of the Lord and therefore a great soul, Bali Mahârâja, his eyes filled with tears, his hands folded and his voice faltering in devotional ecstasy, responded as follows. (Vedabase)

Text 2

S'rî Bali said: 'How wonderful it is that, in just attempting to offer my respect to the regulative principles as observed by pure devotees, it for a fallen Asura like me, endowed with Your causeless mercy, has become possible what before today could not be achieved by the godly or the leaders of the world!'

Bali Mahârâja said: What a wonderful effect there is in even attempting to offer respectful obeisances to You! I merely endeavored to offer You obeisances, but nonetheless the attempt was as successful as those of pure devotees. The causeless mercy You have shown to me, a fallen demon, was never achieved even by the demigods or the leaders of the various planets. (Vedabase)

Text 3

S'rî S'uka said: 'Having said this to the Lord offered he Him, Lord Brahmâ and Lord S'iva his obeisances and entered Bali released and that way satisfied with his associates next Sutala.

S'ukadeva Gosvâmî continued: After speaking in this way, Bali Mahârâja offered his obeisances first to the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Hari, and then to Lord Brahmâ and Lord S'iva. Thus he was released from the bondage of the nâga-pâs'a [the ropes of Varuna], and in full satisfaction he entered the planet known as Sutala. (Vedabase)

Text 4

And so did the Supreme Lord who, fulfilling Aditi's desire, had given back to king Indra his supremacy over the heavenly worlds, [see 8.16: 11-17] rule the entire Universe.

Thus having delivered the proprietorship of the heavenly planets to Indra and having fulfilled the desire of Aditi, mother of the demigods, the Supreme Personality of Godhead ruled the affairs of the universe. (Vedabase)

Text 5

Prahlâda who in his ecstatic devotion had overheard how his descendant, his grandson Bali, had achieved His mercy and was released from the bondage, then addressed as follows [the Supreme Personality].

When Prahlâda Mahârâja heard how Bali Mahârâja, his grandson and descendant, had been released from bondage and had achieved the benediction of the Lord, he spoke as follows in a tone of greatly ecstatic devotion. (Vedabase)

Text 6

S'rî Prahlâda said: 'With this benediction, which could not be achieved by Lord Brahmâ, by the Goddess of Fortune or by Lord S'iva - not to mention others -, have You for us Asuras become the Protector Against All Misery, the One whose feet are worshiped by those who are revered throughout the universe!

Prahlâda Mahârâja said: O Supreme Personality of Godhead, You are universally worshiped; even Lord Brahmâ and Lord S'iva worship Your lotus feet. Yet although You are such a great personality, You have kindly promised to protect us, the demons. I think that such kindness has never been achieved even by Lord Brahmâ, Lord S'iva or the goddess of fortune, Lakshmî, what to speak of other demigods or common people. (Vedabase)

Text 7

Lord Brahmâ and others, o Shelter of All, enjoy Your grace by the taste of the honey of serving the lotus of Your feet; how could we, guilty escapists born from envy, achieve the position that is granted by the merciful glance of Your Lordship?

O supreme shelter of everyone, great personalities like Brahmâ enjoy their perfection simply by tasting the honey of rendering service at Your lotus feet. But as for us, who are all rogues and debauchees born of an envious family of demons, how have we received Your mercy? It has been possible only because Your mercy is causeless. (Vedabase)

Text 8

O how wonderful are all the activities of Your unlimited spiritual potency: in Your pastimes are You, expanding in service, the One who created all the worlds, o Lord pervading all and equal to all; to be undivided is the nature of Your love for the devotees as You are by nature the desire tree [see B.G. 9: 29].'

O my Lord, Your pastimes are all wonderfully performed by Your inconceivable spiritual energy; and by her perverted reflection, the material energy, You have created all the universes. As the Supersoul of all living entities, You are aware of everything, and therefore You are certainly equal toward everyone. Nonetheless, You favor Your devotees. This is not partiality, however, for Your characteristic is just like that of a desire tree, which yields everything according to one's desire. (Vedabase)

Text 9

The Supreme Lord said: 'My son Prahlâda, all good to you, please go and enjoy the place Sutala and rejoice there in happiness with your grandson, relatives and friends!

The Supreme Personality of Godhead said: My dear son Prahlâda, all good fortune unto you. For the time being, please go to the place known as Sutala and there enjoy happiness with your grandson and your other relatives and friends. (Vedabase)

Text 10

Situated there will you have the constant vision of Me holding the club and seeing Me thus will the bondage of fruitive action by the great delight be vanquished.'

The Supreme Personality of Godhead assured Prahlâda Mahârâja: You shall be able to see Me there in My usual feature with conchshell, disc, club and lotus in My hand. Because of your transcendental bliss due to always personally seeing Me, you will have no further bondage to fruitive activities. (Vedabase)

Text 11-12

S'rî S'uka said: 'Prahlâda, clear of intelligence, accepted with folded hands in consent the order of the Supreme Lord, o King, and after he, the Master of all the leading Asuras, had circumambulated the Original Person and offered his obeisances, entered he together with Bali with His permission the great place Sutala.

S'rîla S'ukadeva Gosvâmî said: Accompanied by Bali Mahârâja, my dear King Parîkshit, Prahlâda Mahârâja, the master of all the chiefs of the demons, took the Supreme Lord's order on his head with folded hands. After saying yes to the Lord, circumambulating Him and offering Him respectful obeisances, he entered the lower planetary system known as Sutala. (Vedabase)

Text 13

The Lord thereafter said to S'ukrâcârya who in the assembly of brahmin followers sat close to Him, Nârâyana, in a group of priests [brahma, hotâ, udgâtâ and adhvaryu]:

Hari, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Nârâyana, thereafter addressed S'ukrâcârya, who was sitting nearby in the midst of the assembly with the priests [brahma, hotâ, udgâtâ and adhvaryu]. O Mahârâja Parîkshit, these priests were all brahma-vâdîs, followers of the Vedic principles for performing sacrifices. (Vedabase)

Text 14

'O brahmin, please describe the karmic flaws of your disciple Bali who performs the sacrifices, for those karmic troubles [see 8.20: 15] will be neutralized under the supervison of the brahmins.'

O best of the brâhmanas, S'ukrâcârya, please describe the fault or discrepancy in your disciple Bali Mahârâja, who engaged in performing sacrifices. This fault will be nullified when judged in the presence of qualified brâhmanas. (Vedabase)

Text 15

S'rî S'ukra said: 'What would be the wrong of him who in all respects was of worship unto Your Lordship who art the master of all fruitive action; You are the Controller and Enjoyer of all sacrifices [see also 4.31: 14, 1.2: 13 and B.G. 5: 25].

S'ukrâcârya said: My Lord, You are the enjoyer and lawgiver in all performances of sacrifice, and You are the yajña-purusha, the person to whom all sacrifices are offered. If one has fully satisfied You, where is the chance of discrepancies or faults in his performances of sacrifice? (Vedabase)

Text 16

To the time and place, the recipient and the paraphernalia there can be weaknesses with the mantras and following the principles, but it is all made faultless by regularly with one another repeating [in song and lecture] the glories of Your Lordship [*].

There may be discrepancies in pronouncing the mantras and observing the regulative principles, and, moreover, there may be discrepancies in regard to time, place, person and paraphernalia. But when Your Lordship's holy name is chanted, everything becomes faultless. (Vedabase)

Text 17

O Supreme One, because You ordered him was Bali without faults though and must I follow to Your order as it is the most auspicious and supreme for each person to fold one's hands to Your regular order.'

Lord Vishnu, I must nonetheless act in obedience to Your order because obeying Your order is most auspicious and is the first duty of everyone. (Vedabase)

Text 18:

S'rî S'uka said: 'Thus to the order of the Lord offering his obeisances set Usanâ [S'ukrâcârya, see 4.1: 45] the mightiest himself together with the best of the brahmins to the task of compensating for the limp sacrifice that Bali made to the Lord.

S'ukadeva Gosvâmî continued: In this way, the most powerful S'ukrâcârya accepted the order of the Supreme Personality of Godhead with full respect. Along with the best brâhmanas, he began to compensate for the discrepancies in the sacrifices performed by Bali Mahârâja. (Vedabase)

Text 19:

O King, this way from Bali having begged the land delivered the Lord as Vâmana to His godbrother the great Indra the places of the gods that had been taken by the others.

O King Parîkshit, thus having taken all the land of Bali Mahârâja by begging, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Lord Vâmanadeva, delivered to His brother Indra all the land taken away by Indra's enemy. (Vedabase)

Text 20-21:

The master of the founding fathers Lord Brahmâ, together with the godly, the saints, the forefathers, each and all of his sons ['Lord S'iva and Kârttikeya'], the Manus and all the great leaders like Daksha, Bhrigu and Angirâ, accepted for the pleasure of Kas'yapa and Aditi [as the parents of Vâmana] and for the good of all living beings and worlds, Lord Vâmana as the supreme leader of all local authorities.

Lord Brahmâ [the master of King Daksha and all other Prajâpatis], accompanied by all the demigods, the great saintly persons, the inhabitants of Pitriloka, the Manus, the munis, and such leaders as Daksha, Bhrigu and Angirâ, as well as Kârttikeya and Lord S'iva, accepted Lord Vâmanadeva as the protector of everyone. He did this for the pleasure of Kas'yapa Muni and his wife Aditi and for the welfare of all the inhabitants of the universe, including their various leaders. (Vedabase)

Text 22-23:

Of the Veda, of all gods, of all religion, of all fame, of all opulence, of all auspiciousness, of all vows being the ones most expert in elevating to the higher life paved they in that time the way for Upendra as the master for all purposes and that made all living beings extremely happy, o ruler of man.

O King Parîkshit, Indra was considered the King of all the universe, but the demigods, headed by Lord Brahmâ, wanted Upendra, Lord Vâmanadeva, as the protector of the Vedas, the principles of religion, fame, opulence, auspiciousness, vows, elevation to the higher planetary system, and liberation. Thus they accepted Upendra, Lord Vâmanadeva, as the supreme master of everything. This decision made all living entities extremely happy. (Vedabase)

Text 24:

Indra thereafter with all the local leaders putting no one but Lord Vâmana in front to travel the high path of the divine ['the heavenly vehicle'] thus took, approved by Lord Brahmâ, with Him to the heavenly world.

Thereafter, along with all the leaders of the heavenly planets, Indra, the King of heaven, placed Lord Vâmanadeva before him and, with the approval of Lord Brahmâ, brought Him to the heavenly planet in a celestial airplane. (Vedabase)

Text 25:

Upon regaining the three worlds enjoyed Indra thus under the protection of Vâmanadeva the opulence and supremacy he was used to and had he nothing to fear from the Asuras.

Indra, King of heaven, being protected by the arms of Vâmanadeva, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, thus regained his rule of the three worlds and was reinstated in his own position, supremely opulent, fearless and fully satisfied. (Vedabase)

Text 26-27:

Brahmâ, each and all of his sons, Bhrigu and the others, the munis, o King and the forefathers, all living beings, the perfected and the angels ['who travel the sky'] and such, glorified all together the uncommon and wonderful, praiseworthy deeds of Lord Vishnu and Aditi as well and then left for each their own world.

Lord Brahmâ, Lord S'iva, Lord Kârttikeya, the great sage Bhrigu, other saintly persons, the inhabitants of Pitriloka and all other living entities present, including the inhabitants of Siddhaloka and living entities who travel in outer space by airplane, all glorified the uncommon activities of Lord Vâmanadeva. O King, while chanting about and glorifying the Lord, they returned to their respective heavenly planets. They also praised the position of Aditi. (Vedabase)

Text 28:

Hearing, o pleasure of the dynasty, of all these activities of Lord Urukrama [the Lord 'of the great steps'] that I described to you, wipes away all consequences of sin.

O Mahârâja Parîkshit, pleasure of your dynasty, I have now described to you everything about the wonderful activities of the Supreme Personality of Godhead Vâmanadeva. Those who hear about this are certainly freed from all the results of sinful activities. (Vedabase)

Text 29:

To the measure of the glories of Him so great in His steps may a person try to count all the atoms of the planet earth; no mortal bound to be born again, nor a mortal of rebirth, is capable of that so stated the great saint [Vasishthha Muni] it in his mantras concerning the Original Person [here Lord Râma, see also B.G. 10: 42 and **]?

One who is subject to death cannot measure the glories of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Trivikrama, Lord Vishnu, any more than he can count the number of atoms on the entire planet earth. No one, whether born already or destined to take birth, is able to do this. This has been sung by the great sage Vasishthha. (Vedabase)

Text 30:

Anyone who hears about and keeps listening to the stories about this God worshiped by the gods, this Lord Hari whose works throughout all His incarnations are equally wonderful, will attain the supreme destination.

If one hears about the uncommon activities of the Supreme Personality of Godhead in His various incarnations, he is certainly elevated to the higher planetary system or even brought back home, back to Godhead. (Vedabase)

Text 31:

Anyone who does this should, in his engagement of service to the gods, the forefathers or else the contentment of human togetherness, know that wherever and whenever these descriptions are met, that will bring all happiness one can find in the world.'

Whenever the activities of Vâmanadeva are described in the course of a ritualistic ceremony, whether the ceremony be performed to please the demigods, to please one's forefathers in Pitriloka, or to celebrate a social event like a marriage, that ceremony should be understood to be extremely auspicious. (Vedabase)

* Often quoted in this context is what S'rî Caitanya Mahâprabhu has recommended:

harer nâma harer nâma
harer nâmaiva kevalam
kalau nâsty eva nâsty eva
nâsty eva gatir anyathâ

"In this age of quarrel and hypocrisy the only means of deliverance is chanting the holy name of the Lord. There is no other way. There is no other way. There is no other way." (Brihan-nâradîya Purâna 38.126)

Also is often quoted here a part of verse 11.5:32: 'In the age of Kali, intelligent persons perform congregational chanting to worship the incarnation of Godhead who constantly sings the names of Krishna.'

** Vasishthha Muni has given a mantra about Lord Vishnu: 'na te vishnor jâyamâno na jâto mahimnah pâram anantam âpa': 'no one can estimate the extent of the uncommonly glorious activities of Lord Vishnu'.