Devanagari
त्वं नूनमसुराणां न: परोक्ष: परमो गुरु: ।
यो नोऽनेकमदान्धानां विभ्रंशं चक्षुरादिशत् ॥ ५ ॥
Verse text
tvaṁ nūnam asurāṇāṁ naḥ
parokṣaḥ paramo guruḥ
yo no ’neka-madāndhānāṁ
vibhraṁśaṁ cakṣur ādiśat
Synonyms
tvam
—
Your Lordship
;
nūnam
—
indeed
;
asurāṇām
—
of the demons
;
naḥ
—
as we are
;
parokṣaḥ
—
indirect
;
paramaḥ
—
the supreme
;
guruḥ
—
spiritual master
;
yaḥ
—
Your Lordship
;
naḥ
—
of us
;
aneka
—
many
;
mada
—
andhānām — blinded by material opulences
;
vibhraṁśam
—
destroying our false prestige
;
cakṣuḥ
—
the eye of knowledge
;
ādiśat
—
gave .
Translation
Since Your Lordship is indirectly the greatest well-wisher of us demons, You act for our best welfare by posing as if our enemy. Because demons like us always aspire for a position of false prestige, by chastising us You give us the eyes by which to see the right path.
Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)
Since you are indirectly the greatest benefactor of us demons, you give us the eye for destroying our blindness arising from pride.
“But I am famous for helping the devatās and not the demons.” You are the indirect benefactor (guru) of the demons since you pose as their enemy. Indirect benefit is greater than direct benefit. Thus you are the supreme (parama) benefactor for us. You are not the supreme benefactor for the devatās since giving them power and wealth that they desire is not really beneficial. You give us real benefit. You give us eyes of knowledge whereas the devatās are blinded. The third person verb instead of second person is poetic license.
Purport
Bali Mahārāja considered the Supreme Personality of Godhead a better friend to the demons than to the demigods. In the material world, the more one gets material possessions, the more he becomes blind to spiritual life. The demigods are devotees of the Lord for the sake of material possessions, but although the demons apparently do not have the Supreme Personality of Godhead on their side, He always acts as their well-wisher by depriving them of their positions of false prestige. By false prestige one is misguided, so the Supreme Lord takes away their position of false prestige as a special favor.