Bhaktivedanta VedaBase: Śrīmad Bhāgavatam 9.4.69

upāyam kathayishyāmi

tava vipra śrinushva tat

ayam hy ātmābhicāras te

yatas tam yāhi mā ciram

sādhushu prahitam tejah

prahartuh kurute 'śivam

SYNONYMS

upāyam — the means of protection in this dangerous position; kathayishyāmi — I shall speak to you; tava — of your deliverance from this danger; vipra — O brāhmana; śrinushva — just hear from me; tat — what I say; ayam — this action taken by you; hi — indeed; ātma-abhicārah — self-envy or envious of yourself (your mind has become your enemy); te — for you; yatah — because of whom; tam — to him (Mahārāja Ambarīsha); yāhi — immediately go; mā ciram — do not wait even a moment; sādhushu — unto devotees; prahitam — applied; tejah — power; prahartuh — of the executor; kurute — does; aśivam — inauspiciousness.

TRANSLATION

O brāhmana, let Me now advise you for your own protection. Please hear from Me. By offending Mahārāja Ambarīsha, you have acted with self-envy. Therefore you should go to him immediately, without a moment's delay. One's so-called prowess, when employed against the devotee, certainly harms he who employs it. Thus it is the subject, not the object, who is harmed.

PURPORT

A Vaishnava is always an object of envy for nondevotees, even when the nondevotee happens to be his father. To give a practical example, Hiranyakaśipu was envious of Prahlāda Mahārāja, but this envy of the devotee was harmful to Hiranyakaśipu, not to Prahlāda. Every action taken by Hiranyakaśipu against his son Prahlāda Mahārāja was taken very seriously by the Supreme Personality of Godhead, and thus when Hiranyakaśipu was on the verge of killing Prahlāda, the Lord personally appeared and killed Hiranyakaśipu. Service to a Vaishnava gradually accumulates and becomes an asset for the devotee. Similarly, harmful activities directed against the devotee gradually become the ultimate cause of the performer's falldown. Even such a great brāhmana and mystic yogī as Durvāsā was in a most dangerous situation because of his offense at the lotus feet of Mahārāja Ambarīsha, a pure devotee.

<<< >>>

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