SB 9.13.5

Devanāgarī

निमि: प्रतिददौ शापं गुरवेऽधर्मवर्तिने । तवापि पतताद् देहो लोभाद्धर्ममजानत: ॥ ५ ॥

Text

nimiḥ pratidadau śāpaṁ gurave ’dharma-vartine tavāpi patatād deho lobhād dharmam ajānataḥ

Synonyms

nimiḥ—Mahārāja Nimi;pratidadauśāpam—countercursed;gurave—unto his spiritual master, Vasiṣṭha;adharma-vartine—who was induced to irreligious principles (because he cursed his offenseless disciple);tava—of you;api—also;patatāt—let it fall;dehaḥ—the body;lobhāt—because of greed;dharmam—religious principles;ajānataḥ—not knowing.

Translation

For unnecessarily cursing him when he had committed no offense, Mahārāja Nimi countercursed his spiritual master. “For the sake of getting contributions from the King of heaven,” he said, “you have lost your religious intelligence. Therefore I pronounce this curse: your body also will fall.”

Purport

The religious principle for a brāhmaṇa is that he should not be greedy at all. In this case, however, for the sake of more lucrative remunerations from the King of heaven, Vasiṣṭha neglected Mahārāja Nimi’s request on this planet, and when Nimi performed the sacrifices with other priests, Vasiṣṭha unnecessarily cursed him. When one is infected by contaminated activities, his power, material or spiritual, reduces. Although Vasiṣṭha was the spiritual master of Mahārāja Nimi, because of his greed he became fallen.

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