TEXT 16
sri-prahrada uvaca
tvayaiva dattam padam aindram urjitam
hrtam tad evadya tathaiva sobhanam
manye mahan asya krto hy anugraho
vibhramsito yac chriya atma-mohanat
SYNONYMS
sri-prahradah uvacaPrahlada Maharaja said; tvayaby Your Lordship; evaindeed; dattamwhich had been given; padamthis position; aindramof the King of heaven; urjitamvery, very great; hrtamhas been taken away; tatthat; evaindeed; adyatoday; tathaas; evaindeed; sobhanambeautiful; manyeI consider; mahanvery great; asyaof him (Bali Maharaja); krtahhas been done by You; hiindeed; anugrahahmercy; vibhramsitahbeing bereft of; yatbecause; sriyahfrom that opulence; atma-mohanatwhich was covering the process of self-realization.
TRANSLATION
Prahlada Maharaja said: My Lord, it is Your Lordship who gave this Bali the very great opulence of the post of heavenly king, and now, today, it is You who have taken it all away. I think You have acted with equal beauty in both ways. Because his exalted position as King of heaven was putting him in the darkness of ignorance, You have done him a very merciful favor by taking away all his opulence.
PURPORT
As it is said, yasyaham anugrhnami harisye tad-dhanam sanaih (Bhag. 10.88.8). It is by the mercy of the Lord that one gets all material opulence, but if such material opulence causes one to become puffed up and forget the process of self-realization, the Lord certainly takes all the opulence away. The Lord bestows mercy upon His devotee by helping him find out his constitutional position. For that purpose, the Lord is always ready to help the devotee in every way. But material opulence is sometimes dangerous because it diverts ones attention to false prestige by giving one the impression that he is the owner and master of everything he surveys, although actually this is not the fact. To protect the devotee from such a misunderstanding, the Lord, showing special mercy, sometimes takes away his material possessions. Yasyaham anugrhnami harisye tad-dhanam sanaih.

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