Verse 1.4.32

Sanskrit text, Unicode transliteration, Word-for-word and English translation of verse 1.4.32:

बद्धा संरक्षितस्यात्र रोधनायास्तासौ बलेः ।
द्वारीति श्रूयते क्वापि न जाने कुत्र सोऽधुना ॥ ३२ ॥

baddhā saṃrakṣitasyātra rodhanāyāstāsau baleḥ |
dvārīti śrūyate kvāpi na jāne kutra so'dhunā || 32 ||

Because of an offense to Bali, Śrī Bhagavān remains bound up as a sentry of his. Although having heard it told like this, nonetheless, even now I do not know His whereabouts.

Commentary: Dig-darśinī-ṭīkā with Bhāvānuvāda

(By Śrīla Sanātana Gosvāmī himself including a deep purport of that commentary)

If said, it is your śuddha-bhakti, or rather, it is the absence of Bhagavān’s mercy, why does Bhagavān remain at the door of Bali as a sentry? He answers these doubts by this verse beginning with baddhvā (remains bound up).

Śrī Bhagavān remains like a bodyguard at his door in Sutala due to an offence to Bali. This account has circulated amongst some circles of sages.

For example, in the Śrī Harivaṃśa in the words of Kuṣmāṇḍa to Bāṇa:

बलिर् विष्णु-बलाक्रान्तो बद्धस् तव पित नृप
सलिलौघाद् विनिःसृत्य क्वचिद् राज्यम् अवाप्स्यति

balir viṣṇu-balākrānto baddhas tava pita nṛpa
salilaughād viniḥsṛtya kvacid rājyam avāpsyati

O King, although it is true that your father Bali, being subjugated by the potency of Śrī Viṣṇu, becomes bound up. Nevertheless, just as a flow of water becomes dammed up, then rises over its boundary walls and flows ahead again, similarly, your father also becomes free from bondage and achieves his desired kingdom—indeed, how can we doubt this?

Similarly, this incidence is also seen in other examples. It is mentioned in the uttara-kaṇḍa of Śrī Rāmāyaṇa in the victory event of Rāvaṇa in Pātāla: “The situation of Bhagavān at the door of Bali in the form of a sentry is not due to His mercy but only to restrain Bali from going elsewhere.” This must be understood. By this, the want of the previously described mercy is being established. Moreover, such accolades of Śri Prahlāda as “O topmost of Vaiṣṇavas,” mentioned in these verses, are also refutable. If you say that even for Śri Śiva, Brahmā and others the darśana of vaikuṇṭheśvara, the lord and master of Vaikuṇṭha, is rare and difficult; is it not the symptom of divine mercy to have darśana of Him constantly? For this reason, he counters, “Where is our Prabhu staying now? I do not know, so where is the question of darśana of Him?” The word adhunā implies that although sometimes the darśana of Bhagavān may be had, yet not always.