Text 3
bibhemi nāhaṁ nirayāt pada-cyuto
na pāśa-bandhād vyasanād duratyayāt
naivārtha-kṛcchrād bhavato vinigrahād
asādhu-vādād bhṛśam udvije yathā
bibhemi — I do fear; na — not; aham — I; nirayāt — from a position in hell; pada-cyutaḥ — nor do I fear being deprived of my position; na — nor; pāśa-bandhāt — from being arrested by the ropes of Varuṇa; vyasanāt — nor from the distress; duratyayāt — which was unbearable for me; na — nor; eva — certainly; artha-kṛcchrāt — because of poverty, or scarcity of money; bhavataḥ — of Your Lordship; vinigrahāt — from the punishment I am now suffering; asādhu-vādāt — from defamation; bhṛśam — very much; udvije — I become anxious; yathā — as.
I do not fear being deprived of all my possessions, living in hellish life, being arrested for poverty by the ropes of Varuṇa or being punished by You as much as I fear defamation.
Although Bali Mahārāja fully surrendered to the Supreme Personality of Godhead, he could not tolerate being defamed for cheating a brāhmaṇa-brahmacārī. Being quite alert in regard to his reputation, he thought deeply about how to prevent being defamed. The Lord, therefore, gave him the good counsel to prevent defamation by offering his head. A Vaiṣṇava does not fear any punishment. Nārāyaṇa-parāḥ sarve na kutaścana bibhyati (Bhāg. 6.17.28).