TEXT 28
drstvarin apy asamyattan
jata-ksobhan sva-nayakan
nyasedhad daitya-rat slokyah
sandhi-vigraha-kalavit
SYNONYMS
drstva—observing; arin—the enemies; api—although; asamyattan—without any endeavor to fight; jata-ksobhan—who became agitated; sva-nayakan—his own captains and commanders; nyasedhat—prevented; daitya-rat—the Emperor of the Daityas, Maharaja Bali; slokyah—very respectable and prominent; sandhi—for making negotiations; vigraha—as well as for fighting; kala—the time; vit—completely aware of.
TRANSLATION
Maharaja Bali, a most celebrated king of the demons, knew very well when to make peace and when to fight. Thus although his commanders and captains were agitated and were about to kill the demigods, Maharaja Bali, seeing that the demigods were coming to him without a militant attitude, forbade his commanders to kill them.
PURPORT
Vedic etiquette enjoins: grhe satrum api praptam visvastam akutobhayam. When enemies come to their opponent’s place, they should be received in such a way that they will forget that there is animosity between the two parties. Bali Maharaja was well conversant with the arts of peacemaking and fighting. Thus he received the demigods very well, although his commanders and captains were agitated. This kind of treatment was prevalent even during the fight between the Pandavas and the Kurus. During the day, the Pandavas and Kurus would fight with the utmost strength, and when the day was over they would go to each other’s camps as friends and be received as such. During such friendly meetings, one enemy would offer anything the other enemy wanted. That was the system.

Link to this page: https://prabhupadabooks.com/sb/8/6/28

Previous: SB 8.6.27     Next: SB 8.6.29

If you Love Me Distribute My Books -- Srila Prabhupada