How dangerous is a moment of distraction in devotional service

2026-03-11

Srimad Bhagavatam 03.13.32-34 - How dangerous is a moment of distraction in devotional service (download mp3)

by Deen Gauranga Prabhu at ISKCON Chowpatty

www.iskcondesiretree.com

SB 03.13.32

jaghāna rundhānam asahya-vikramaṁ

sa līlayebhaṁ mṛgarāḍ ivāmbhasi

tad-rakta-paṅkāṅkita-gaṇḍa-tuṇḍo

yathā gajendro jagatīṁ vibhindan

Translation:

Thereupon Lord Boar killed the demon within the water, just as a lion kills an elephant. The cheeks and tongue of the Lord became smeared with the blood of the demon, just as an elephant becomes reddish from digging in the purple earth.

SB 03.13.33

tamāla-nīlaṁ sita-danta-koṭyā

kṣmām utkṣipantaṁ gaja-līlayāṅga

prajñāya baddhāñjalayo ’nuvākair

viriñci-mukhyā upatasthur īśam

Translation:

Then the Lord, playing like an elephant, suspended the earth on the edge of His curved white tusks. He assumed a bluish complexion like that of a tamāla tree, and thus the sages, headed by Brahmā, could understand Him to be the Supreme Personality of Godhead and offered respectful obeisances unto the Lord.

SB 03.13.34

ṛṣaya ūcuḥ

jitaṁ jitaṁ te ’jita yajña-bhāvana

trayīṁ tanuṁ svāṁ paridhunvate namaḥ

yad-roma-garteṣu nililyur addhayas

tasmai namaḥ kāraṇa-sūkarāya te

Translation:

All the sages uttered with great respect: O unconquerable enjoyer of all sacrifices, all glories and all victories unto You! You are moving in Your form of the personified Vedas, and in the hair holes of Your body the oceans are submerged. For certain reasons [to uplift the earth] You have now assumed the form of a boar.

Purport:

The Lord can assume any form He likes, and in all circumstances He is the cause of all causes. Since His form is transcendental, He is always the Supreme Personality of Godhead, as He is in the Causal Ocean in the form of Mahā-Viṣṇu. Innumerable universes generate from the holes of His bodily hairs, and thus His transcendental body is the Vedas personified. He is the enjoyer of all sacrifices, and He is the unconquerable Supreme Personality of Godhead. He is never to be misunderstood to be other than the Supreme Lord because of His assuming the form of a boar to lift the earth. That is the clear understanding of sages and great personalities like Brahmā and other residents of the higher planetary systems.