Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 10.18.26
Blended reading (Sanskrit + English inline)
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dharaṇi-dhara-indra
—
like the king of mountains (Sumeru)
Dharaṇi (earth) + dhara (holder) + indra (chief) — the chief earth-holder. Balarāma's weight is compared to the mountain that holds up earth. Gauḍīyas note that Saṅkarṣaṇa-tattva (Balarāma's expansion) literally holds the cosmos.
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mahā-asuraḥ
—
the great demon
Mahā (great) + asura. The same prefix mahā that elsewhere honours saints here qualifies the demon. The word is morally neutral; the verb attached to it determines its valence.
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vigata-rayaḥ
—
losing his momentum
Vi+gata (gone away) + raya (speed). His rapid-flight (druta-taram from verse 25) is now vigata. The momentum reversed inside one verse — Gauḍīyas read this as the dhāma's auto-corrective: speed against Bhagavān cannot persist.
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nijam-vapuḥ
—
his original body
Nija (own) + vapus (body). Forced back into his real form. Disguise collapses under the weight of Bhagavān's bhāva. A doctrinal point: yogamāyā shelters the Lord's disguise; mahāmāyā cannot shelter the asura's.
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uḍu-pati-vāṭ-iva-ambu-daḥ
—
like a cloud carrying the moon
Uḍu-pati (moon, lord of stars) + ambu-da (water-giver, cloud). Balarāma is the moon; Pralamba is the lightning-cloud that thought it could hold Him. The simile reveals who is permanent (the moon) and who is the temporary container (the cloud).
Here the demon Pralamba is compared to a cloud, his golden ornaments to lightning within that cloud, and Lord Balarāma to the moon shining through it. Great demons can assume various forms by exerting their mystic power, but when the Lord’s spiritual potency curtails their power, they can no longer maintain an artificial form and must again manifest their actual, demoniac body. Lord Balarāma suddenly became as heavy as a great mountain, and although the demon tried to carry Him high on his shoulders, he could not go on.
Only with great difficulty was he able to carry Balrama (ut vahan ) because Balarama became heavier than mount sumeru. He became heavy when he saw Pralambha taking him off to a different place. Being unable to carry Balarama he slowed down. Instead of showing his strength in that false body as a cowherd, he showed a huge body dressed in gold, which was like the moon shining through a cloud lit by lightning.
Balarāma became heavier than Mount Meru. When Pralamba went beyond the designated place, Balarāma laughed, became astonished and then worried. Then he became heavy. Pralamba then carried him up higher his shoulders (udvahan). Though he was a big demon, he lost speed. Then he resumed his demon body. asahan rauhiṇeyasya sa bhāraṁ dānavottamaḥ vavṛdhe sa mahākāyaḥ prāvṛṣīva balāhakaḥ Unable to carry the weight of Balarāma, Pralamba increased in size. His huge body was like a monsoon rain cloud. Viṣṇu Purāṇa 5.9.17
Balarāma became heavier than Mount Meru because that was his nature, or he manifested special weight at that time on understanding that Pralamba was a demon. The demon carried Balarāma high on his shoulder instead of on his back, in order to breathe properly. Or he carried him high in the sky because he was a powerful demon (mahāsuraḥ). But still he lost his speed and then returned to his demon body. asahan rauhiṇeyasya sa bhāraṁ dānavottamaḥ vavṛdhe sa mahākāyaḥ prāvṛṣīva balāhakaḥ Unable to carry the weight of Balarāma, Pralamba increased in size. His huge body was like a monsoon rain cloud. Viṣṇu Purāṇa 5.9.17 In comparing the demon to a cloud, it is hinted that his complexion was blackish.
- Where could I increase the 'weight' of my devotional gravity so a false carrier reveals itself?
- What in me, currently being borne by an impostor, would expose them by becoming heavier?
Balarāma becomes heavy like Sumeru on the demon's shoulders. The Lord adjusts His weight by His will — not because gravity changed, but because His acceptance of the burden of carrying him changed. Bhagavān's mass is a function of His mood.
My note
Source: vedabase.io