Canto 6: Prescribed Duties for MankindChapter 3: Yamarāja Instructs His Messengers

Bhaktivedanta VedaBase: Śrīmad Bhāgavatam 6.3.28

tān ānayadhvam asato vimukhān mukunda-

pādāravinda-makaranda-rasād ajasram

niṣkiñcanaiḥ paramahaḿsa-kulair asańgair

juṣṭād gṛhe niraya-vartmani baddha-tṛṣṇān

SYNONYMS

tān — them; ānayadhvam — bring before me; asataḥ — nondevotees (those who have not taken to Kṛṣṇa consciousness); vimukhān — who have turned against; mukunda — of Mukunda, the Supreme Personality of Godhead; pāda-aravinda — of the lotus feet; makaranda — of the honey; rasāt — the taste; ajasram — continuously; niṣkiñcanaiḥ — by persons completely free from material attachment; paramahaḿsa-kulaiḥ — by the paramahaḿsas, the most exalted personalities; asańgaiḥ — who have no material attachment; juṣṭāt — which is enjoyed; gṛheto household life; niraya-vartmani — the path leading to hell; baddha-tṛṣṇān — whose desires are bound.

TRANSLATION

Paramahaḿsas are exalted persons who have no taste for material enjoyment and who drink the honey of the Lord's lotus feet. My dear servants, bring to me for punishment only persons who are averse to the taste of that honey, who do not associate with paramahaḿsas and who are attached to family life and worldly enjoyment, which form the path to hell.

PURPORT

After warning the Yamadūtas not to approach the devotees, Yamarāja now indicates who is to be brought before him. He specifically advises the Yamadūtas to bring him the materialistic persons who are attached to household life merely for sex. As stated in Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, yan maithunādi-gṛhamedhi-sukhaḿ hi tuccham: [SB 7.9.45] people are attached to household life for sex only. They are always harassed in many ways by their material engagements, and their only happiness is that after working very hard all day, at night they sleep and indulge in sex. Nidrayā hriyate naktaḿ vyavāyena ca vā vayaḥ: [SB 2.1.3] at night, materialistic householders sleep or indulge in sex life. Divā cārthehayā rajan kuṭumba-bharaṇena vā: during the day they are busy trying to find out where money is, and if they get money they spend it to maintain their families. Yamarāja specifically advises his servants to bring these persons to him for punishment and not to bring the devotees, who always lick the honey at the lotus feet of the Lord, who are equal to everyone, and who try to preach Kṛṣṇa consciousness because of sympathy for all living entities. Devotees are not liable to punishment by Yamarāja, but persons who have no information of Kṛṣṇa consciousness cannot be protected by their material life of so-called family enjoyment. Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam says (2.1.4):

dehāpatya-kalatrādiṣv

ātma-sainyeṣv asatsv api

teṣāḿ pramatto nidhanaḿ

paśyann api na paśyati

Such persons complacently believe that their nations, communities or families can protect them, unaware that all such fallible soldiers will be destroyed in due course of time. In conclusion, one should try to associate with persons who engage in devotional service twenty-four hours a day.

<<< >>>

Buy Online Copyright © The Bhaktivedanta Book Trust International, Inc.
His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda, Founder Ācārya of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness