Fourteen Worlds
FOURTEEN WORLDSVedic Cosmology

SB 5.10.17

Devanāgarī

नाहं विशङ्के सुरराजवज्रा- न्न त्र्यक्षशूलान्न यमस्य दण्डात् । नाग्‍न्‍यर्कसोमानिलवित्तपास्त्रा- च्छङ्के भृशं ब्रह्मकुलावमानात् ॥ १७ ॥

Text

nāhaṁ viśaṅke sura-rāja-vajrān na tryakṣa-śūlān na yamasya daṇḍāt nāgny-arka-somānila-vittapāstrāc chaṅke bhṛśaṁ brahma-kulāvamānāt

Synonyms

na—not;aham—I;viśaṅke—am afraid;sura-rāja-vajrāt—from the thunderbolt of the King of heaven, Indra;na—nor;tryakṣa-śūlāt—from the piercing trident of Lord Śiva;na—nor;yamasya—of the superintendent of death, Yamarāja;daṇḍāt—from the punishment;na—nor;agni—of fire;arka—of the scorching heat of the sun;soma—of the moon;anila—of the wind;vitta-pa—of the owner of riches, Kuvera, the treasurer of the heavenly planets;astrāt—from the weapons;śaṅke—I am afraid;bhṛśam—very much;brahma-kula—the group of thebrāhmaṇas;avamānāt—from offending.

Translation

My dear sir, I am not at all afraid of the thunderbolt of King Indra, nor am I afraid of the serpentine, piercing trident of Lord Śiva. I do not care about the punishment of Yamarāja, the superintendent of death, nor am I afraid of fire, scorching sun, moon, wind, nor the weapons of Kuvera. Yet I am afraid of offending a brāhmaṇa. I am very much afraid of this.

Purport

When Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu was instructing Rūpa Gosvāmī at the Daśāśvamedha-ghāṭa in Prayāga, He pointed out very clearly the seriousness of offending a Vaiṣṇava. He compared the vaiṣṇava-aparādha to hātī mātā, a mad elephant. When a mad elephant enters a garden, it spoils all the fruits and flowers. Similarly, if one offends a Vaiṣṇava, he spoils all his spiritual assets. Offending a brāhmaṇa is very dangerous, and this was known to Mahārāja Rahūgaṇa. He therefore frankly admitted his fault. There are many dangerous things — thunderbolts, fire, Yamarāja’s punishment, the punishment of Lord Śiva’s trident, and so forth — but none is considered as serious as offending a brāhmaṇa like Jaḍa Bharata. Therefore Mahārāja Rahūgaṇa immediately descended from his palanquin and fell flat before the lotus feet of the brāhmaṇa Jaḍa Bharata just to be excused.
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