Verse 18

¹⁵In a lake the leader of the herd, caught by the foot by a crocodile of great strength, held out a lotus in his trunk and cried in his distress: first Person, lord of all the worlds, whose fame is a holy ford, whose name is auspicious to hear, ¹⁶Hearing him ask for shelter, Hari, who cannot be measured, his disc in hand and riding on the shoulder of the king of birds, split the crocodile's mouth with the disc, took him by the trunk, and the Bhagavan out of pity lifted him free. ¹⁷Though the youngest of Aditi's sons, he was the greatest of them in his qualities, and as the one who presides over the sacrifice he strode out these worlds. As the dwarf he took the earth by the trick of three paces; for one who keeps to the road cannot be moved by the mighty except by asking.

¹⁸Bali, who wore on his head the water that had washed the wide-strider's feet, did not want this, nor lordship over the gods. Dear one, he would do nothing but what he had promised, and in his mind he counted even himself as Hari's.