Jayapataka Swami: The question was, there are 14 bhuvanas. 7up and 7 down, and he is saying that his understanding is that 7 down is more suffering. And Bali maharaj he is on the third planet down. He was a devotee, so why is he there? It is not exactly that in the lower planets, there is more suffering. The lower planets are also considered like celestial planets. Patala loka is the hellish region, but the other six levels have varieties of enjoyment. They are less God conscious, but they have more material benefits. The upper 7 are more God conscious. So Bali maharaj was the king of the daityas. So naturally he was on the lower planets. There they live in material opulence but generally they have low God conscious. Now in Bali maharaj’s situation, he is very Krsna conscious. And Lord Visnu is his gatekeeper. So that nobody can attack him. So, Narada muni when praising Prahlada maharaj and Bali maharaj, that the Lord is your gatekeeper, we will hardly see him said Prahlada maharaja. We don’t have so much darshan. Like that he gave his, there are greater devotees, he directed Narada muni to someone else.  Narada muni wanted to find out who was the greatest devotee of Krsna in the universe. Anyway, it shows how, even if one may be born in some materialistic family, it is possible to have devotional service for the Lord.
17-MAY-2020 SRI MAYAPUR DHAM, INDIA