माप: शिखाधृतवतो विबुधाधिपत्यम् ।
यो वै प्रतिश्रुतमृते न चिकीर्षदन्य-
दात्मानमङ्ग मनसा हरयेऽभिमेने ॥ १८ ॥
āpaḥ śikhā-dhṛtavato vibudhādhipatyam
yo vai pratiśrutam ṛte na cikīrṣad anyad
ātmānam aṅga manasā haraye 'bhimene
adhyātma-nityā vinivṛtta-kāmāḥ
dvandvair vimuktāḥ sukha-duḥkha-saṁjñair
gacchanty amūḍhāḥ padam avyayaṁ tat
na śaśāṅko na pāvakaḥ
yad gatvā na nivartante
tad dhāma paramaṁ mama
SYNONYMS
na—never; arthaḥ—of any value in comparison with; baleḥ—of strength; ayam—this; urukrama-pāda-śaucam—the water washed from the feet of the Personality of Godhead; āpaḥ—water; śikhā-dhṛtavataḥ—of one who has kept it on his head; vibudha-adhipatyam—supremacy over the kingdom of the demigods; yaḥ—one who; vai—certainly; pratiśrutam—what was duly promised; ṛte na—besides that; cikīrṣat—tried for; anyat—anything else; ātmānam—even his personal body; aṅga—O Nārada; manasā—within his mind; haraye—unto the Supreme Lord; abhimene—dedicated.
TRANSLATION
Bali Mahārāja, who put on his head the water washed from the lotus feet of the Lord, did not think of anything besides his promise, in spite of being forbidden by his spiritual master. The king dedicated his own personal body to fulfill the measurement of the Lord's third step. For such a personality, even the kingdom of heaven, which he conquered by his strength, was of no value.
PURPORT
Bali Mahārāja, by gaining the transcendental favor of the Lord in exchange for his great material sacrifice, was able to have a place in Vaikuṇṭhaloka with equal or greater facilities of eternal enjoyment; therefore he was not at all the loser by sacrificing the kingdom of heaven, which he had possessed by his material strength. In other words, when the Lord snatches away one's hard-earned material possessions and favors one with His personal transcendental service for eternal life, bliss and knowledge, such taking away by the Lord should be considered a special favor upon such a pure devotee.
Material possessions, however alluring they may be, cannot be permanent possessions. Therefore one has to voluntarily give up such possessions, or one has to leave such possessions at the time of quitting this material body. The sane man knows that all material possessions are temporary and that the best use of such possessions is to engage them in the service of the Lord so that the Lord may be pleased with him and award him a permanent place in His paraṁ dhāma.
In the Bhagavad-gītā (15.5–6), the paraṁ dhāma of the Lord is described as follows:
adhyātma-nityā vinivṛtta-kāmāḥ
dvandvair vimuktāḥ sukha-duḥkha-saṁjñair
gacchanty amūḍhāḥ padam avyayaṁ tat
na śaśāṅko na pāvakaḥ
yad gatvā na nivartante
tad dhāma paramaṁ mama
The primary information of the kingdom of God informs us that there is no need of sun, moon or electricity, which are all necessary in this material world of darkness. And the secondary information of the kingdom of God explains that anyone able to reach that kingdom by adoption of the civilization of the soul proper, or, in other words, by the method of bhakti-yoga, attains the highest perfection of life. One is then situated in the permanent existence of the soul, with full knowledge of transcendental loving service for the Lord. Bali Mahārāja accepted this civilization of the soul in exchange for his great material possessions and thus became fit for promotion to the kingdom of God. The kingdom of heaven, which he achieved by dint of his material power, was considered most insignificant in comparison with the kingdom of God.
Those who have attained the comforts of a material civilization made for sense gratification should try to attain the kingdom of God by following in the footsteps of Bali Mahārāja, who exchanged his acquired material strength, adopting the process of bhakti-yoga as recommended in the Bhagavad-gītā and further explained in the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam.