A reading lens over the Bhagavatam, not a passage of it
Pride humbled
मानभङ्ग
Brahma, Indra and the sage Durvasa each try to measure the Lord, and each one ends up on his knees asking pardon.
Where the text shows it
The gatekeepers of Vaikuntha are cursed — Skandha 3, adhyayas 15-16 — Four child-sages are stopped at Vaikuntha's seventh gate, and the two guards who stopped them must be born three times as demons.
Sati and Daksha's sacrifice — Skandha 4, adhyayas 2-7 — A father invites every god but his daughter's husband, and Sati goes anyway — the insult that ends in fire.
Vamana and Bali — Skandha 8, adhyayas 15-23 — A dwarf asks a generous king for three steps of land, and the king keeps his word after learning who the dwarf is.
Ambarisha and Durvasa — Skandha 9, adhyayas 4-5 — A king breaks his fast with a sip of water, a sage takes offence, and the Lord's own discus chases the sage across the worlds.
Brahma steals the calves — Skandha 10, adhyayas 13-14 — The creator hides Krishna's calves and cowherd friends for a year to test him, and finds Krishna has quietly become all of them.
Krishna lifts Govardhana — Skandha 10, adhyayas 24-27 — A boy talks his village out of worshipping Indra, Indra sends a week of storms, and the boy holds up a hill on one finger.
Who embodies it
Brahma — The creator himself is a student here: taught by four verses on a lotus, and humbled by a cowherd boy in Vraja.
Sati — Daksha's daughter and Shiva's wife, who went to her father's sacrifice uninvited and would not live with the insult.
Hiranyakashipu — Brother of the demon Varaha slew, he won a boon that closed every door to death except one he never imagined.
Bali — A generous demon king who conquered heaven, gave away the three worlds to a dwarf, and was made the lord of Sutala.
