Srimad-Bhagavatam: Canto 10 - Chapter 1 - Verse 45


Sanskrit:

तन्न: प्रसीद निरपेक्षविमृग्ययुष्मत्-पादारविन्दधिषणान्यगृहान्धकूपात् ।निष्क्रम्य विश्वशरणाङ्घ्रय‍ुपलब्धवृत्ति:शान्तो यथैक उत सर्वसखैश्चरामि ॥ ४५ ॥

ITRANS:

tan naḥ prasīda nirapekṣa-vimṛgya-yuṣmatpādāravinda-dhiṣaṇānya-gṛhāndha-kūpātniṣkramya viśva-śaraṇāṅghry-upalabdha-vṛttiḥśānto yathaika uta sarva-sakhaiś carāmi

Translation:

Please be merciful to me so I may get out of the blind well of family life — my false home — and find the true shelter of Your lotus feet, which selfless sages always seek. Then, either alone or in the company of great saints, who are the friends of everyone, I may wander freely, finding life’s necessities at the feet of the universally charitable trees.

Purport:

Śrīla Viśvanātha Cakravartī states that in response to Bali’s prayers, Śrī Kṛṣṇa invited him to choose some benediction, and in this verse Bali submits his request. Bali begs to be relieved of the entanglement of material life so he will be free to leave home and wander in the wilderness, with only the Lord’s lotus feet as his shelter. For his subsistence, Bali proposes, he will take help from the forest trees, at whose feet are fruits to eat and leaves to sleep on, for all to use as needed. And if the Lord is especially merciful to him, Bali hopes, he will not have to wander alone but will be allowed to travel in the company of Lord Kṛṣṇa’s devotees.