Copyright © r The Bhaktivedanta Book Trust International, Inc.His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda, Founder Ācārya of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness
| Canto 4: Creation of the Fourth Order | Chapter 20: Lord Vishnu's Appearance in the Sacrificial Arena of Mahārāja Prithu |
Bhaktivedanta VedaBase: Śrīmad Bhāgavatam 4.20.2
kshamāpayata ātmānam
SYNONYMS
śrī-bhagavān uvāca — the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Lord Vishnu, spoke; eshah — this Lord Indra; te — your; akārshīt — performed; bhańgam — disturbance; haya — horse; medha — sacrifice; śatasya — of the one-hundredth; ha — indeed; kshamāpayatah — who is asking pardon; ātmānam — unto yourself; amushya — him; kshantum — to forgive; arhasi — you ought.
TRANSLATION
Lord Vishnu, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, said: My dear King Prithu, Indra, the King of heaven, has disturbed your execution of one hundred sacrifices. Now he has come with Me to be forgiven by you. Therefore excuse him.
PURPORT
In this verse the word ātmānam is very significant. It is a custom among yogīs and jñānīs to address one another (or even an ordinary man) as one's self, for a transcendentalist never accepts a living being to be the body. Since the individual self is part and parcel of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, the self and the Superself are qualitatively nondifferent. As the next verse will explain, the body is only a superficial covering, and consequently an advanced transcendentalist will not make a distinction between one self and another.
Copyright © r The Bhaktivedanta Book Trust International, Inc.
His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda, Founder Ācārya of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness