यत्सन्निधावहमु खाण्डवमग्नयेऽदामिन्द्रं च सामरगणं तरसा विजित्य ।
लब्धा सभा मयकृताद्भुतशिल्पमाया दिग्भ्योऽहरन्नृपतयो बलिमध्वरे ते ॥८॥

yat-sannidhÄv aham u khÄṇá¸avam agnaye 'dÄm
indraá¹ ca sÄmara-gaṇaá¹ tarasÄ vijitya
labdhÄ sabhÄ maya-ká¹›tÄdbhuta-Å›ilpa-mÄyÄ
digbhyo 'haran ná¹›patayo balim adhvare te

 yat - whose; sannidhau - being nearby; aham - myself; u - note of astonishment; khÄṇá¸avam - the protected forest of Indra, King of heaven; agnaye - unto the fire-god; adÄm - delivered; indram - Indra; ca - also; sa - along with; amara-gaṇam - the demigods; tarasÄ - with all dexterity; vijitya - having conquered; labdhÄ - having obtained; sabhÄ - assembly house; maya-ká¹›tÄ - built by Maya; adbhuta - very wonderful; Å›ilpa - art and workmanship; mÄyÄ - potency; digbhyaḥ - from all directions; aharan - collected; ná¹›patayaḥ - all princes; balim - presentations; adhvare - brought; te - your.


Text

Because He was near me, it was possible for me to conquer with great dexterity the powerful King of heaven, Indradeva, along with his demigod associates and thus enable the fire-god to devastate the KhÄṇá¸ava Forest. And only by His grace was the demon named Maya saved from the blazing KhÄṇá¸ava Forest, and thus we could build our assembly house of wonderful architectural workmanship, where all the princes assembled during the performance of RÄjasÅ«ya-yajña and paid you tributes.

Purport

The demon Maya DÄnava was an inhabitant of the forest KhÄṇá¸ava, and when the KhÄṇá¸ava Forest was set on fire, he asked protection from Arjuna. Arjuna saved his life, and as a result of this the demon felt obliged. He reciprocated by building a wonderful assembly house for the PÄṇá¸avas, which attracted the extraordinary attention of all state princes. They felt the supernatural power of the PÄṇá¸avas, and thus without grudge all of them submitted and paid tributes to the Emperor. The demons possess wonderful and supernatural powers to create material wonders. But they are always disturbing elements of the society. The modern demons are the harmful material scientists who create some material wonders for disturbance in the society. For example, the creation of nuclear weapons has caused some panic in human society. Maya was also a materialist like that, and he knew the art of creating such wonderful things. And yet Lord Kṛṣṇa wanted to kill him. When he was chased both by the fire and by the wheel of Lord Kṛṣṇa, he took shelter of such a devotee as Arjuna, who saved him from the wrath of the fire of Lord ÅšrÄ« Kṛṣṇa. Devotees are therefore more merciful than the Lord, and in devotional service the mercy of a devotee is more valuable than the mercy of the Lord. Both the fire and the Lord ceased from chasing the demon as soon as both of them saw that the demon was given shelter by such a devotee as Arjuna. This demon, feeling obliged to Arjuna, wanted to do him some service to show his gratefulness, but Arjuna declined to accept anything from him in exchange. Lord ÅšrÄ« Kṛṣṇa, however, being pleased with Maya for his taking shelter of a devotee, asked him to render service unto King Yudhiṣṭhira by building a wonderful assembly house. The process is that by the grace of the devotee the mercy of the Lord is obtained, and by the mercy of the Lord a chance to serve the Lord’s devotee is obtained. The club of BhÄ«masena was also a gift of Maya DÄnava.