TEXT 8
yat-sannidhav aham u khandavam agnaye 'dam
indram ca samara-ganam tarasa vijitya
labdha sabha maya-krtadbhuta-silpa-maya
digbhyo 'haran nrpatayo balim adhvare te
SYNONYMS
yatwhose; sannidhaubeing nearby; ahammyself; unote of astonishment; khandavamthe protected forest of Indra, King of heaven; agnayeunto the fire-god; adamdelivered; indramIndra; caalso; saalong with; amara-ganamthe demigods; tarasawith all dexterity; vijityahaving conquered; labdhahaving obtained; sabhaassembly house; maya-krtabuilt by Maya; adbhutavery wonderful; silpaart and workmanship; mayapotency; digbhyahfrom all directions; aharancollected; nrpatayahall princes; balimpresentations; adhvarebrought; teyour.
TRANSLATION
Because He was near me, it was possible for me to conquer with great dexterity the powerful King of heaven, Indradeva, along with his demigod associates and thus enable the fire-god to devastate the Khandava Forest. And only by His grace was the demon named Maya saved from the blazing Khandava Forest, and thus we could build our assembly house of wonderful architectural workmanship, where all the princes assembled during the performance of Rajasuya-yajna and paid you tributes.
PURPORT
The demon Maya Danava was an inhabitant of the forest Khandava, and when the Khandava Forest was set on fire, he asked protection from Arjuna. Arjuna saved his life, and as a result of this the demon felt obliged. He reciprocated by building a wonderful assembly house for the Pandavas, which attracted the extraordinary attention of all state princes. They felt the supernatural power of the Pandavas, and thus without grudge all of them submitted and paid tributes to the Emperor. The demons possess wonderful and supernatural powers to create material wonders. But they are always disturbing elements of the society. The modern demons are the harmful material scientists who create some material wonders for disturbance in the society. For example, the creation of nuclear weapons has caused some panic in human society. Maya was also a materialist like that, and he knew the art of creating such wonderful things. And yet Lord Krsna wanted to kill him. When he was chased both by the fire and by the wheel of Lord Krsna, he took shelter of such a devotee as Arjuna, who saved him from the wrath of the fire of Lord Sri Krsna. Devotees are therefore more merciful than the Lord, and in devotional service the mercy of a devotee is more valuable than the mercy of the Lord. Both the fire and the Lord ceased from chasing the demon as soon as both of them saw that the demon was given shelter by such a devotee as Arjuna. This demon, feeling obliged to Arjuna, wanted to do him some service to show his gratefulness, but Arjuna declined to accept anything from him in exchange. Lord Sri Krsna, however, being pleased with Maya for his taking shelter of a devotee, asked him to render service unto King Yudhisthira by building a wonderful assembly house. The process is that by the grace of the devotee the mercy of the Lord is obtained, and by the mercy of the Lord a chance to serve the Lord's devotee is obtained. The club of Bhimasena was also a gift of Maya Danava.
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