SB 8.20.13 · Srimad-Bhagavatam

Devanagari

एष वा उत्तमश्लोको न जिहासति यद् यश: । हत्वा मैनां हरेद् युद्धे शयीत निहतो मया ॥ १३ ॥

Verse text

eṣa vā uttamaśloko na jihāsati yad yaśaḥ hatvā maināṁ hared yuddhe śayīta nihato mayā

Synonyms

eṣaḥ — this ( brahmacārī ) ; vā — either ; uttama — ślokaḥ — is Lord Viṣṇu, who is worshiped by Vedic prayers ; na — not ; jihāsati — desires to give up ; yat — because ; yaśaḥ — perpetual fame ; hatvā — after killing ; mā — me ; enām — all this land ; haret — will take away ; yuddhe — in the fight ; śayīta — will lie down ; nihataḥ — being killed ; mayā — by me .

Translation

If this brāhmaṇa really is Lord Viṣṇu, who is worshiped by Vedic hymns, He would never give up His widespread reputation; either He would lie down having been killed by me, or He would kill me in a fight.

Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)

Since he is Viṣṇu of imperishable fame, he will not give up that fame. Killing me in battle, he will take the land. I can never kill him. Since he is certainly the lord of fame, he will not give up his fame. If I say I will not give land, and then, not tolerating a broken promise requests a fight and I accept, he will kill me in battle and take the land. “But he may be defeated by you, since you are a great warrior.” Then, will he lie down in battle, killed by me? He will never lie down in battle, since Viṣṇu cannot be killed. Though the sentence is expressed is in the positive, it has negative sense. Or the na from the previous phrase can be taken to apply to this phrase as well.

Purport

Bali Mahārāja’s statement that Viṣṇu would lie down having been killed is not the direct meaning, for Viṣṇu cannot be killed by anyone. Lord Viṣṇu can kill everyone, but He cannot be killed. Thus the real meaning of the words “lie down” is that Lord Viṣṇu would reside within the core of Bali Mahārāja’s heart. Lord Viṣṇu is defeated by a devotee through devotional service; otherwise, no one can defeat Lord Viṣṇu.