Bhaktivedanta VedaBase: Śrīmad Bhāgavatam 6.5.39

nanu bhāgavatā nityam

bhūtānugraha-kātarāh

rite tvām sauhrida-ghnam vai

vairań-karam avairinām

SYNONYMS

nanu — now; bhāgavatāh — devotees of the Supreme Personality of Godhead; nityam — eternally; bhūta-anugraha-kātarāh — very much anxious to bestow benedictions upon the fallen conditioned souls; rite — except; tvām — yourself; sauhrida-ghnam — a breaker of friendship (therefore not countable among the bhāgavatas, or devotees of the Lord); vai — indeed; vairam-karam — you create enmity; avairinām — toward persons who are not enemies.

TRANSLATION

All the devotees of the Lord but you are very kind to the conditioned souls and are eager to benefit others. Although you wear the dress of a devotee, you create enmity with people who are not your enemies, or you break friendship and create enmity between friends. Are you not ashamed of posing as a devotee while performing these abominable actions?

PURPORT

Such are the criticisms that must be borne by the servants of Nārada Muni in the disciplic succession. Through the Krishna consciousness movement, we are trying to train young people to become devotees and return home, back to Godhead, by following rigid regulative principles, but our service is appreciated neither in India nor abroad in the Western countries where we are endeavoring to spread this Krishna consciousness movement. In India the caste brāhmanas have become enemies of the Krishna consciousness movement because we elevate foreigners, who are supposed to be mlecchas and yavanas, to the position of brāhmanas. We train them in austerities and penances and recognize them as brāhmanas by awarding them sacred threads. Thus the caste brāhmanas of India are very displeased by our activities in the Western world. In the West also, the parents of the young people who join this movement have also become enemies. We have no business creating enemies, but the process is such that nondevotees will always be inimical toward us. Nevertheless, as stated in the śāstras, a devotee should be both tolerant and merciful. Devotees engaged in preaching should be prepared to be accused by ignorant persons, and yet they must be very merciful to the fallen conditioned souls. If one can execute his duty in the disciplic succession of Nārada Muni, his service will surely be recognized. As the Lord says in Bhagavad-gītā (18.68-69):

ya idam paramam guhyam

mad-bhakteshv abhidhāsyati

bhaktim mayi parām kritvā

mām evaishyaty asamśayah

na ca tasmān manushyeshu

kaścin me priya-krittamah

bhavitā na ca me tasmād

anyah priyataro bhuvi

"For one who explains the supreme secret to the devotees, devotional service is guaranteed, and at the end he will come back to Me. There is no servant in this world more dear to Me than he, nor will there ever be one more dear." Let us continue preaching the message of Lord Krishna and not be afraid of enemies. Our only duty is to satisfy the Lord by this preaching, which will be accepted as service by Lord Caitanya and Lord Krishna. We must sincerely serve the Lord and not be deterred by so-called enemies.

In this verse the word sauhrida-ghnam ("a breaker of friendship") is used. Because Nārada Muni and the members of his disciplic succession disrupt friendships and family life, they are sometimes accused of being sauhrida-ghnam, creators of enmity between relatives. Actually such devotees are friends of every living entity (suhridam sarva-bhūtānām), but they are misunderstood to be enemies. Preaching can be a difficult, thankless task, but a preacher must follow the orders of the Supreme Lord and be unafraid of materialistic persons.

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His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda, Founder Ācārya of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness