Study a Verse

• The śāstras enjoin that if one has money one should divide all that he has accumulated into five divisions — one part for religion, one part for reputation, one part for opulence, one part for sense gratification and one part to maintain the members of his family.
• Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī taught us by his own example by using fifty percent of his accumulated wealth for Kṛṣṇa, twenty-five percent for his own self, and twenty-five percent for the members of his family.
• However, because one’s family members expect some profit, one should also satisfy them by giving them a portion of one’s accumulated wealth.

Śrīla Prabhupāda's own sentences, chosen from the purport as its central points. Read the full purport on Vedabase to see them in place.

Public loss and humiliation → Total surrender. An apparent external defeat conceals a devotional triumph.

Chapters 19–23 of Canto 8: Vāmana tests Bali; Bali offers everything. An editorial reading of the story's mood, not the text itself. See the emotional arc

Chapter 19: Lord Vāmanadeva Begs Charity from Bali Mahārāja

From the chapter summary, the lines nearest this verse:

He explained that in subduing others, in joking, in responding to danger, in acting for the welfare of others, and so on, one could refuse to fulfill one’s promise, and there would be no fault. By this philosophy, Śukrācārya tried to dissuade Bali Mahārāja from giving land to Lord Vāmanadeva.