SB 8.6.28
A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada
TEXT 28
- dṛṣṭvārīn apy asaṁyattāñ
- jāta-kṣobhān sva-nāyakān
- nyaṣedhad daitya-rāṭ ślokyaḥ
- sandhi-vigraha-kālavit
SYNONYMS
dṛṣṭvā—observing; arīn—the enemies; api—although; asaṁyattān—without any endeavor to fight; jāta-kṣobhān—who became agitated; sva-nāyakān—his own captains and commanders; nyaṣedhat—prevented; daitya-rāṭ—the Emperor of the Daityas, Mahārāja Bali; ślokyaḥ—very respectable and prominent; sandhi—for making negotiations; vigraha—as well as for fighting; kāla—the time; vit—completely aware of.
TRANSLATION
Mahārāja 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, Mahārāja Bali, seeing that the demigods were coming to him without a militant attitude, forbade his commanders to kill them.
PURPORT
Vedic etiquette enjoins: gṛhe śatrum api prāptaṁ viśvastam 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 Mahārāja 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 Pāṇḍavas and the Kurus. During the day, the Pāṇḍavas 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.