SB 9.11.23
A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada
TEXT 23
- puruṣo rāma-caritaṁ
- śravaṇair upadhārayan
- ānṛśaṁsya-paro rājan
- karma-bandhair vimucyate
SYNONYMS
puruṣaḥ—any person; rāma-caritam—the narration concerning the activities of the Supreme Personality of Godhead Lord Rāmacandra; śravaṇaiḥ—by aural reception; upadhārayan—simply by this process of hearing; ānṛśaṁsya-paraḥ—becomes completely free from envy; rājan—O King Parīkṣit; karma-bandhaiḥ—by the bondage of fruitive activities; vimucyate—one becomes liberated.
TRANSLATION
O King Parīkṣit, anyone who aurally receives the narrations concerning the characteristics of Lord Rāmacandra's pastimes will ultimately be freed from the disease of envy and thus be liberated from the bondage of fruitive activities.
PURPORT
Here in this material world, everyone is envious of someone else. Even in religious life, it is sometimes found that if one devotee has advanced in spiritual activities, other devotees are envious of him. Such envious devotees are not completely freed from the bondage of birth and death. As long as one is not completely free from the cause of birth and death, one cannot enter the sanātana-dhāma or the eternal pastimes of the Lord. One becomes envious because of being influenced by the designations of the body, but the liberated devotee has nothing to do with the body, and therefore he is completely on the transcendental platform. A devotee is never envious of anyone, even his enemy. Because the devotee knows that the Lord is his supreme protector, he thinks, "What harm can the so-called enemy do?" Thus a devotee is confident about his protection. The Lord says, ye yathā māṁ prapadyante tāṁs tathaiva bhajāmy aham: (BG 4.11) "According to the proportion of one's surrender unto Me, I respond accordingly." A devotee must therefore be completely free from envy, especially of other devotees. To envy other devotees is a great offense, a vaiṣṇava-aparādha. A devotee who constantly engages in hearing and chanting (śravaṇa-kīrtana) is certainly freed from the disease of envy, and thus he becomes eligible to go back home, back to Godhead.