सङ्ग्रामे वर्तमानानां कालचोदितकर्मणाम् ।
कीर्तिर्जयोऽजयो मृत्युः सर्वेषां स्युरनुक्रमात् ॥७॥
Å›rÄ«-balir uvÄca
saá¹…grÄme vartamÄnÄnÄá¹
kÄla-codita-karmaṇÄm
kīrtir jayo 'jayo mṛtyuḥ
sarveá¹£Äá¹ syur anukramÄt
Å›rÄ«-baliḥ uvÄca - Bali MahÄrÄja said; saá¹…grÄme - in the battlefield; vartamÄnÄnÄm - of all persons present here; kÄla-codita - influenced by the course of time; karmaṇÄm - for persons engaged in fighting or any other activities; kÄ«rtiḥ - reputation; jayaḥ - victory; ajayaḥ - defeat; má¹›tyuḥ - death; sarveá¹£Äm - of all of them; syuḥ - must be done; anukramÄt - one after another.
Bali MahÄrÄja replied: All those present on this battlefield are certainly under the influence of eternal time, and according to their prescribed activities, they are destined to receive fame, victory, defeat and death, one after another.
If one is victorious on the battlefield, he becomes famous; and if one is not victorious but is defeated, he may die. Both victory and defeat are possible, whether on such a battlefield as this or on the battlefield of the struggle for existence. Everything takes place according to the laws of nature (praká¹›teḥ kriyamÄṇÄni guṇaiḥ karmÄṇi sarvaÅ›aḥ). Since everyone, without exception, is subject to the modes of material nature, whether one is victorious or defeated he is not independent, but is under the control of material nature. Bali MahÄrÄja, therefore, was very sensible. He knew that the fighting was arranged by eternal time and that under time’s influence one must accept the results of one’s own activities. Therefore even though Indra threatened that he would now kill Bali MahÄrÄja by releasing the thunderbolt, Bali MahÄrÄja was not at all afraid. This is the spirit of a ká¹£atriya: yuddhe cÄpy apalÄyanam (Bg. 18.43). A ká¹£atriya must be tolerant in all circumstances, especially on the battlefield. Thus Bali MahÄrÄja asserted that he was not at all afraid of death, although he was threatened by such a great personality as the King of heaven.
