Srimad Bhagavatam

Canto 8: Withdrawal of the Cosmic Creations
Chapter 23: The Demigods Regain the Heavenly Planets

Text 0: Chapter Summary
Text* 1: Åšukadeva GosvÄmÄ« said: When the supreme, ancient, eternal Personality of Godhead had thus spoken to Bali MahÄrÄja, who is universally accepted as a pure devotee of the Lord and therefore a great soul, Bali MahÄrÄja, his eyes filled with tears, his hands folded and his voice faltering in devotional ecstasy, responded as follows.
Text 2: Bali MahÄrÄja 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.
Text* 3: Åšukadeva GosvÄmÄ« continued: After speaking in this way, Bali MahÄrÄja offered his obeisances first to the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Hari, and then to Lord BrahmÄ and Lord Åšiva. Thus he was released from the bondage of the nÄga-pÄÅ›a [the ropes of Varuṇa], and in full satisfaction he entered the planet known as Sutala.
Text* 4: 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.
Text* 5: When PrahlÄda MahÄrÄja heard how Bali MahÄrÄja, 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.
Text 6: PrahlÄda MahÄrÄja said: O Supreme Personality of Godhead, You are universally worshiped; even Lord BrahmÄ and Lord Åšiva 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 BrahmÄ, Lord Åšiva or the goddess of fortune, Laká¹£mÄ«, what to speak of other demigods or common people.
Text* 7: O supreme shelter of everyone, great personalities like BrahmÄ 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.
Text 8: 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.
Text* 9: The Supreme Personality of Godhead said: My dear son PrahlÄda, 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.
Text 10: The Supreme Personality of Godhead assured PrahlÄda MahÄrÄja: 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.
Text* 11-12: ÅšrÄ«la Åšukadeva GosvÄmÄ« said: Accompanied by Bali MahÄrÄja, my dear King ParÄ«ká¹£it, PrahlÄda MahÄrÄja, 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.
Text* 13: Hari, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, NÄrÄyaṇa, thereafter addressed ÅšukrÄcÄrya, who was sitting nearby in the midst of the assembly with the priests [brahma, hotÄ, udgÄtÄ and adhvaryu]. O MahÄrÄja ParÄ«ká¹£it, these priests were all brahma-vÄdÄ«s, followers of the Vedic principles for performing sacrifices.
Text 14: O best of the brÄhmaṇas, ÅšukrÄcÄrya, please describe the fault or discrepancy in your disciple Bali MahÄrÄja, who engaged in performing sacrifices. This fault will be nullified when judged in the presence of qualified brÄhmaṇas.
Text 15: ÅšukrÄcÄrya said: My Lord, You are the enjoyer and lawgiver in all performances of sacrifice, and You are the yajña-puruá¹£a, 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?
Text 16: 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.
Text* 17: Lord Viṣṇu, I must nonetheless act in obedience to Your order because obeying Your order is most auspicious and is the first duty of everyone.
Text* 18: Åšukadeva GosvÄmÄ« continued: In this way, the most powerful ÅšukrÄcÄrya accepted the order of the Supreme Personality of Godhead with full respect. Along with the best brÄhmaṇas, he began to compensate for the discrepancies in the sacrifices performed by Bali MahÄrÄja.
Text* 19: O King ParÄ«ká¹£it, thus having taken all the land of Bali MahÄrÄja by begging, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Lord VÄmanadeva, delivered to His brother Indra all the land taken away by Indra’s enemy.
Text* 20-21: Lord BrahmÄ [the master of King Daká¹£a and all other PrajÄpatis], accompanied by all the demigods, the great saintly persons, the inhabitants of Pitá¹›loka, the Manus, the munis, and such leaders as Daká¹£a, Bhá¹›gu and Aá¹…girÄ, as well as KÄrttikeya and Lord Åšiva, accepted Lord VÄmanadeva as the protector of everyone. He did this for the pleasure of KaÅ›yapa Muni and his wife Aditi and for the welfare of all the inhabitants of the universe, including their various leaders.
Text* 22-23: O King ParÄ«ká¹£it, Indra was considered the King of all the universe, but the demigods, headed by Lord BrahmÄ, wanted Upendra, Lord VÄmanadeva, 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 VÄmanadeva, as the supreme master of everything. This decision made all living entities extremely happy.
Text* 24: Thereafter, along with all the leaders of the heavenly planets, Indra, the King of heaven, placed Lord VÄmanadeva before him and, with the approval of Lord BrahmÄ, brought Him to the heavenly planet in a celestial airplane.
Text* 25: Indra, King of heaven, being protected by the arms of VÄmanadeva, 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.
Text* 26-27: Lord BrahmÄ, Lord Åšiva, Lord KÄrttikeya, the great sage Bhá¹›gu, other saintly persons, the inhabitants of Pitá¹›loka 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 VÄmanadeva. O King, while chanting about and glorifying the Lord, they returned to their respective heavenly planets. They also praised the position of Aditi.
Text* 28: O MahÄrÄja ParÄ«ká¹£it, pleasure of your dynasty, I have now described to you everything about the wonderful activities of the Supreme Personality of Godhead VÄmanadeva. Those who hear about this are certainly freed from all the results of sinful activities.
Text 29: One who is subject to death cannot measure the glories of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Trivikrama, Lord Viṣṇu, 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 Vasiṣṭha.
Text* 30: 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.
Text 31: Whenever the activities of VÄmanadeva are described in the course of a ritualistic ceremony, whether the ceremony be performed to please the demigods, to please one’s forefathers in Pitá¹›loka, or to celebrate a social event like a marriage, that ceremony should be understood to be extremely auspicious.