Canto 6: Prescribed Duties for Mankind | Chapter 18: Diti Vows to Kill King Indra |
Bhaktivedanta VedaBase: Śrīmad Bhāgavatam 6.18.47
śrī-kaśyapa uvāca
na hiḿsyād bhūta-jātāni
na śapen nānṛtaḿ vadet
na chindyān nakha-romāṇi
na spṛśed yad amańgalam
SYNONYMS
śrī-kaśyapaḥ uvāca — Kaśyapa Muni said; na hiḿsyāt — must not harm; bhūta-jātāni — the living entities; na śapet — must not curse; na — not; anṛtam — a lie; vadet — must speak; na chindyāt — must not cut; nakha-romāṇi — the nails and hair; na spṛśet — must not touch; yat — that which; amańgalam — impure.
TRANSLATION
Kaśyapa Muni said: My dear wife, to follow this vow, do not be violent or cause harm to anyone. Do not curse anyone, and do not speak lies. Do not cut your nails and hair, and do not touch impure things like skulls and bones.
PURPORT
Kaśyapa Muni's first instruction to his wife was not to be envious. The general tendency of anyone within this material world is to be envious, and therefore, to become a Kṛṣṇa conscious person, one must curb this tendency, as stated in Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam (paramo nirmatsarāṇām). A Kṛṣṇa conscious person is always nonenvious, whereas others are always envious. Thus Kaśyapa Muni's instruction that his wife not be envious indicates that this is the first stage of advancement in Kṛṣṇa consciousness. Kaśyapa Muni desired to train his wife to be a Kṛṣṇa conscious person, for this would suffice to protect both her and Indra.
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His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda, Founder Ācārya of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness