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Read one verse of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam with its Sanskrit, word meanings, translation and study points.

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Canto 8 · Withdrawal of the Cosmic Creations · 24 chapters

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How to study this verse, in six steps
  1. 1Chant the verse. Say the Sanskrit slowly and carefully.
  2. 2Read the word meanings. Go through each Sanskrit word and its meaning.
  3. 3Find the meaning yourself. Before the translation, piece the meaning together from the words.
  4. 4Read the translation. Ask: what is the Lord teaching here, and how does it apply to my life?
  5. 5Read the purport slowly. Read it two or three times. Don't rush.
  6. 6Write down what touched you. Note the main points in your own notebook.
Read the full guide: how to hear the Bhāgavatam ›
Canto 8 · Chapter 20: Bali Mahārāja Surrenders the Universe
8.20.218.20.23

Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam · Text 8.20.22

Āśraya· The supreme shelter
Who is speaking and story frame
Speaking:Śukadeva Gosvāmīsince 8.20.16inside 2 frames: Sūta Gosvāmī → the sages at NaimiṣāraṇyaŚukadeva Gosvāmī → King Parīkṣit

काये बलिस्तस्य महाविभूते:

सहर्त्विगाचार्यसदस्य एतत् ।

ददर्श विश्वं त्रिगुणं गुणात्मके

भूतेन्द्रियार्थाशयजीवयुक्तम् ॥ २२ ॥

kāye balis tasya mahā-vibhūteḥ

sahartvig-ācārya-sadasya etat

dadarśa viśvaṁ tri-guṇaṁ guṇātmake

bhūtendriyārthāśaya-jīva-yuktam

Translation

Bali Mahārāja, along with all the priests, ācāryas and members of the assembly, observed the Supreme Personality of Godhead’s universal body, which was full of six opulences. That body contained everything within the universe, including all the gross material elements, the senses, the sense objects, the mind, intelligence and false ego, the various kinds of living entities, and the actions and reactions of the three modes of material nature.

Read Śrīla Prabhupāda's purport on Vedabase.io
1

Understand it

Three study points drawn from the translation and purport.

One With the Lord, Yet Different

  1. 1

    Bali Mahārāja and the assembly saw everything within the Lord’s universal body, which was full of six opulences. Kṛṣṇa, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, is the origin of everything.

  2. 2

    Although everything rests in the Lord, He retains His separate existence. Bali Mahārāja was the seer, and the universal body was what he saw.

  3. 3

    The living entity is part of the whole but can never equal the complete whole. Lord Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu taught this simultaneous oneness and difference as acintya-bhedābheda.

Key points from the purport
  • In Bhagavad-gītā, the Supreme Personality of Godhead says, ahaṁ sarvasya prabhavo mattaḥ sarvaṁ pravartate: Kṛṣṇa is the origin of everything.
  • Māyāvādī philosophers think that since the Supreme Personality of Godhead, the Absolute Truth, has become everything, He has no separate existence.
  • Here, Bali Mahārāja was the seer of the Personality of Godhead’s universal body, and that body was that which was seen.

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

How it feels

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

Further reading

Chapter 20: Bali Mahārāja Surrenders the Universe

From the chapter summary, the lines nearest this verse:

Bali Mahārāja could see Lord Vāmanadeva as the Supreme Viṣṇu, wearing a helmet, yellow garments, the mark of Śrīvatsa, the Kaustubha jewel, a flower garland, and ornaments decorating His entire body. The Lord gradually covered the entire surface of the world, and by extending His body He covered the entire sky.
Read the whole chapter summaryBack to this verse in chapter 8.20
2

Word for word

Learn the Sanskrit words of the verse.

  1. kāyein the body
  2. baliḥMahārāja Bali
  3. tasyaof the Personality of Godhead
  4. mahā-vibhūteḥof that person who is equipped with all wonderful opulences
  5. saha-ṛtvik-ācārya-sadasyaḥwith all the priests, ācāryas and members of the holy assembly
  6. etatthis
  7. dadarśasaw
  8. viśvamthe whole universe
3

Key ideas in this verse

The subject this verse serves and the themes it speaks of.

  • Āśraya · The summum bonum

    Who is the shelter of everything? · Subject 10 of 10

  • Dainya · Humility

    Ego yields to insight, service and surrender. · Theme in SB 8.20

    In this verse: “false ego”

  • Moha · Material attachment

    The pull of ego, desire and impermanent relationships. · Theme in SB 8.20

    In this verse: “material”

4

Live it

Take one thing from this verse into your day.

Ask yourself

How does being part of the Lord, but never equal to Him, shape your attitude toward Him?

Practice

Pause today to reflect: “I am part of Kṛṣṇa, but I am not the complete whole.”

5

The story around it

The story this chapter belongs to.

Live this todayOne With the Lord, Yet DifferentThis verse's lesson: one practice and one question for today

Study points are short summaries, not the translation. Confirm them in the original text and purport on Vedabase.

Ask the BhāgavatamHave a question about SB 8.20.22? Get an answer from the verses themselves.
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