Bali’s Stotra to Kṛshṇa

Bali’s Stotra to Kṛshṇa is a hymn of praise (stotra) sung by Bali Mahārāja, the great chakravartī (emperor) and the most devoted of the devotees of Bhagavān Vishṇu. He sang it to Bhagavān Kṛshṇa at Bhagavān Śiva’s court in Śoṇitapura, when he came to plead for the life of his son Bāṇāsura. It is found in the Brahma Vaivarta Purāṇa, Śrī Kṛshṇa Janana Khaṇḍa, Chapter 120, and is drawn from the Sāmaveda tradition.

The setting

A great battle was fought between the forces of Bhagavān Kṛshṇa and Bāṇāsura, who was backed by the army of Bhagavān Śiva. The battle came to its height. The Sudarśana Cakra had cut off 996 of Bāṇa’s arms, and Bāṇa lay defeated.

At that point Bali Mahārāja came to Bhagavān Śiva’s court. He was deeply distressed at the state of his son. He did not plead from ego or opposition. He accepted the supreme reality with full surrender and sang this stotra.

The stotra

The stotra speaks of the nature of Bhagavān Kṛshṇa in terms of the three guṇas and the three devas who rule them.

The three guṇas and their devas

  • Bhagavān Vishṇu is sattva: light, purity and the power that sustains. He works through the guṇa of brightness.
  • Bhagavān Śiva is tamas: the śakti of dissolution and of Kāla (time), the power of time and change.
  • Brahmā is rajas: the creative force, the push of manifestation.

Bhagavān Kṛshṇa beyond the guṇas

  • Bhagavān Kṛshṇa is beyond all three guṇas. He is Nirguṇa Parabrahman, the source from which all three guṇas and the devas who rule them come.
  • All the worlds exist in a single hair-pore of His body.
  • He is both the cause and the substance of all creation.
  • Bāṇāsura’s battle against Bhagavān Kṛshṇa was like the battle of a wave against the ocean. It came from not knowing this truth of the cosmos.

Surrender

Bali says that his son Bāṇa’s fight with Bhagavān Kṛshṇa came from not knowing the supreme Īśvara. He begs forgiveness and asks that Bāṇa’s life be spared.

Bhagavān Kṛshṇa’s answer

Bhagavān Kṛshṇa was moved by Bali’s stotra and by the plea of Bhagavān Śiva. He gave Bāṇāsura:

  • Mṛtyuñjaya-jñāna, the knowledge that conquers death
  • life without death, with four arms, the arms that remained after the work of the Sudarśana Cakra
  • the phala (fruit) of Bali’s own stotra

The phalaśruti

One who recites this stotra with devotion receives:

  • the removal of the pāpa (sin) gathered over crores of births
  • the destruction of all calamities and troubles
  • moksha (liberation)
  • the end of the cycle of rebirth

Sources

  • Brahma Vaivarta Mahā Purāṇa, Śrī Kṛshṇa Janana Khaṇḍa, Chapters 119-120
  • Brahma Vaivarta Mahā Purāṇa, Śrī Kṛshṇa Janana Khaṇḍa, Chapter 120