तं तु राजा बलिर् नाम सर्वधर्मविशारदः ॥
अपश्यन् मज्जनगतः स्रोतसाभ्याशम् आगतम् ॥
जग्राह चैनं धर्मात्मा बलिः सत्यपराक्रमः ॥
ज्ञात्वा चैनं स वव्रे ऽथ पुत्रार्थं मनुजर्षभ ॥
संतानार्थं महाभाग भार्यासु मम मानद ॥
पुत्रान् धर्मार्थकुशलान् उत्पादयितुम् अर्हसि ॥
एवम् उक्तः स तेजस्वी तं तथेत्य् उक्तवान् ऋषिः ॥
तस्मै स राजा स्वां भार्यां सुदेष्णां प्राहिणोत् तदा ॥
अन्धं वृद्धं च तं मत्वा न सा देवी जगाम ह ॥
स्वां तु धात्रेयिकां तस्मै वृद्धाय प्राहिणोत् तदा ॥
तस्यां काक्षीवदादीन् स शूद्रयोनाव् ऋषिर् वशी ॥
जनयाम् आस धर्मात्मा पुत्रान् एकादशैव तु ॥
taṃ tu rājā balir nāma sarvadharmaviśāradaḥ ||
apaśyan majjanagataḥ srotasābhyāśam āgatam ||
jagrāha cainaṃ dharmātmā baliḥ satyaparākramaḥ ||
jñātvā cainaṃ sa vavre 'tha putrārthaṃ manujarṣabha ||
saṃtānārthaṃ mahābhāga bhāryāsu mama mānada ||
putrān dharmārthakuśalān utpādayitum arhasi ||
evam uktaḥ sa tejasvī taṃ tathety uktavān ṛṣiḥ ||
tasmai sa rājā svāṃ bhāryāṃ sudeṣṇāṃ prāhiṇot tadā ||
andhaṃ vṛddhaṃ ca taṃ matvā na sā devī jagāma ha ||
svāṃ tu dhātreyikāṃ tasmai vṛddhāya prāhiṇot tadā ||
tasyāṃ kākṣīvadādīn sa śūdrayonāv ṛṣir vaśī ||
janayām āsa dharmātmā putrān ekādaśaiva tu ||
"And the king named Bali, versed in all the dharmas, saw him when, having entered the river for his bath, that man was borne near by the current. And the righteous Bali, whose valor was truth, took him up; and, recognizing him, he then chose him for the sake of sons, O bull among men: 'For the continuation of my line, O gracious one, upon my wives, O bestower of honor, you must beget sons skilled in dharma and artha.' Thus addressed, that resplendent sage said to him, 'so be it'; and the king then sent to him his wife Sudeshna. But deeming him blind and old, that queen did not go herself; instead she sent to that old man her own nurse-maidservant. Upon her, born in a shudra womb, that self-controlled righteous sage begot sons — Kakshivat and the rest — eleven in all."
96468607cc72 · 发布于 2026年7月12日 16:16:47 UTC
可用语言RUEN用方向键翻颂
Here King Bali rescues Dirghatamas and asks him for offspring, but the queen deceives him. Bali's virtue stands out: "versed in all the dharmas," he rescues the helpless blind man and respectfully chooses him to beget worthy sons through niyoga. Here we see how providence, working through a righteous man, raises up the very one his own kin had cast off: the man abandoned by his sons becomes the giver of a lineage to a king. Notable, too, is the second precedent of niyoga — the summoning of a great sage to beget virtuous sons; and again it is a "self-controlled" sage who performs this, without desire, as a duty. But notable also is Sudeshna's error: disdaining the blind old man, she substitutes a servant in her place. Here is a warning against pride and against judging by appearance: the queen scorned the frail sage for his blindness and decrepitude, failing to perceive in him one equal to Brihaspati; and so contempt for a saint's outward form deprived the deceiver of the fruit she sought. Outward wretchedness often conceals greatness, and whoever judges by the flesh cheats only himself. Thus scripture reveals both the mercy of providence toward the outcast and the vanity of pride that scorns a saint for the frailty of his body.