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TEXT 17
naham visanke sura-raja-vajran
na tryaksa-sulan na yamasya dandat
nagny-arka-somanila-vittapastrac
chanke bhrsam brahma-kulavamanat
SYNONYMS
na—not; aham—I; visanke—am afraid; sura-raja-vajrat—from the thunderbolt of the King of heaven, Indra; na—nor; tryaksa-sulat—from the piercing trident of Lord Siva; na—nor; yamasya—of the superintendent of death, Yamaraja; dandat—from the punishment; na—nor; agni—of fire; arka—of the scorching heat of the sun; soma—of the moon; anila—of the wind; vitta-pa—of the owner of riches, Kuvera, the treasurer of the heavenly planets; astrat—from the weapons; sanke—I am afraid; bhrsam—very much; brahma-kula—the group of the brahmanas; avamanat—from offending.
TRANSLATION
My dear sir, I am not at all afraid of the thunderbolt of King Indra, nor am I afraid of the serpentine, piercing trident of Lord Siva. I do not care about the punishment of Yamaraja, the superintendent of death, nor am I afraid of fire, scorching sun, moon, wind, nor the weapons of Kuvera. Yet I am afraid of offending a brahmana. I am very much afraid of this.
PURPORT
When Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu was instructing Rupa Gosvami at the Dasasvamedha-ghata in Prayaga, He pointed out very clearly the seriousness of offending a Vaisnava. He compared the vaisnava-aparadha to hati mata, a mad elephant. When a mad elephant enters a garden, it spoils all the fruits and flowers. Similarly, if one offends a Vaisnava, he spoils all his spiritual assets. Offending a brahmana is very dangerous, and this was known to Maharaja Rahugana. He therefore frankly admitted his fault. There are many dangerous things—thunderbolts, fire, Yamaraja’s punishment, the punishment of Lord Siva’s trident, and so forth—but none is considered as serious as offending a brahmana like Jada Bharata. Therefore Maharaja Rahugana immediately descended from his palanquin and fell flat before the lotus feet of the brahmana Jada Bharata just to be excused.
Link to this page: https://prabhupadabooks.com/sb/5/10/17 Previous: SB 5.10.16 Next: SB 5.10.18
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