2010-10-21Srimad Bhagavatam 09.04.69 - Dangers Of Vaishnava Aparadha (download mp3)
by Radhika Vallabha Prabhu at ISKCON Chowpatty
www.iskcondesiretree.net
SB 9.4.69
upayam kathayisyami
tava vipra srnusva tat
ayam hy atmabhicaras te
yatas tam yahi ma ciram
sadhusu prahitam tejah
prahartuh kurute 'sivam
upayam kathayisyami
tava vipra srnusva tat
ayam hy atmabhicaras te
yatas tam yahi ma ciram
sadhusu prahitam tejah
prahartuh kurute 'sivam
Translation:
O brahmana, let Me now advise you for your own protection. Please hear from Me. By offending Maharaja Ambarisa, you have acted with self-envy. Therefore you should go to him immediately, without a moment's delay. One's so-called prowess, when employed against the devotee, certainly harms him who employs it. Thus it is the subject, not the object, who is harmed.
O brahmana, let Me now advise you for your own protection. Please hear from Me. By offending Maharaja Ambarisa, you have acted with self-envy. Therefore you should go to him immediately, without a moment's delay. One's so-called prowess, when employed against the devotee, certainly harms him who employs it. Thus it is the subject, not the object, who is harmed.
Purport:
A Vaisnava is always an object of envy for nondevotees, even when the nondevotee happens to be his father. To give a practical example, Hiranyakasipu was envious of Prahlada Maharaja, but this envy of the devotee was harmful to Hiranyakasipu, not to Prahlada. Every action taken by Hiranyakasipu against his son Prahlada Maharaja was taken very seriously by the Supreme Personality of Godhead, and thus when Hiranyakasipu was on the verge of killing Prahlada, the Lord personally appeared and killed Hiranyakasipu. Service to a Vaisnava gradually accumulates and becomes an asset for the devotee. Similarly, harmful activities directed against the devotee gradually become the ultimate cause of the performer's falldown. Even such a great brahmana and mystic yogi as Durvasa was in a most dangerous situation because of his offense at the lotus feet of Maharaja Ambarisa, a pure devotee.
