SB 8.20.24 · Srimad Bhagavatam

Devanagari

सन्ध्यां विभोर्वाससि गुह्य ऐक्षत् प्रजापतीञ्जघने आत्ममुख्यान् । नाभ्यां नभ: कुक्षिषु सप्तसिन्धू- नुरुक्रमस्योरसि चर्क्षमालाम् ॥ २४ ॥

Verse text

sandhyāṁ vibhor vāsasi guhya aikṣat prajāpatīṣ jaghane ātma-mukhyān nābhyāṁ nabhaḥ kukṣiṣu sapta-sindhūn urukramasyorasi carkṣa-mālām

Synonyms

sandhyām — the evening twilight ; vibhoḥ — of the Supreme ; vāsasi — in the garment ; guhye — on the private parts ; aikṣat — he saw ; prajāpatīn — the various Prajāpatis, who had given birth to all living entities ; jaghane — on the hips ; ātma — mukhyān — the confidential ministers of Bali Mahārāja ; nābhyām — on the navel ; nabhaḥ — the whole sky ; kukṣiṣu — on the waist ; sapta — seven ; sindhūn — oceans ; urukramasya — of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, who was acting wonderfully ; urasi — on the bosom ; ca — also ; ṛkṣa — mālām — the clusters of stars .

Translation

Bali Mahārāja saw beneath the garments of the Lord, who acts wonderfully, the evening twilight. In the Lord’s private parts he saw the Prajāpatis, and in the round portion of the waist he saw himself with his confidential associates. In the Lord’s navel he saw the sky, on the Lord’s waist he saw the seven oceans, and on the Lord’s bosom he saw all the clusters of stars.

Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)

Bali Mahārāja saw the twilight on the garments of the Lord. On the Lord's private parts he saw the Prajāpatis, and on the Lord’s buttocks he saw his chief demon associates. On the Lord's navel he saw the sky, on the Lord's waist he saw the seven oceans, and on the Lord's bosom he saw all the clusters of stars. Ātma-mukhyān means Bali’s chief demons. Though Bali was seeing the earth, he saw on the buttocks of the form his own men, since that is where they reside on the universal form. The other things he sees should be understood in the same way.