tam udvahan dharaṇi-dharendra-gauravaḿ
mahāsuro vigata-rayo nijaḿ vapuḥ
sa āsthitaḥ puraṭa-paricchado babhau
taḍid-dyumān uḍupati-vāḍ ivāmbudaḥ
tam -- Him, Lord Baladeva; udvahan -- carrying high; dharani-dhara-indra -- like the king of the mountains, Sumeru; gauravam -- whose weight; maha-asurah -- the great demon; vigata-rayah -- losing his momentum; nijam -- his original; vapuh -- body; sah -- he; asthitah -- becoming situated in; purata -- golden; paricchadah -- having ornaments; babhau -- he shone; tadit -- like lightning; dyu-man -- flashing; udu-pati -- the moon; vat -- carrying; iva -- just as; ambu-dah -- a cloud.
Here the demon Pralamba is compared to a cloud, his golden ornaments to lightning within that cloud, and Lord Balarama to the moon shining through it. Great demons can assume various forms by exerting their mystic power, but when the Lord's spiritual potency curtails their power, they can no longer maintain an artificial form and must again manifest their actual, demoniac body. Lord Balarama suddenly became as heavy as a great mountain, and although the demon tried to carry Him high on his shoulders, he could not go on.