SB 4.7.15

Srimad-Bhagavatam - Fourth Canto - Chapter 7: The Sacrifice Performed by Dakṣa

SB 4.7.14 - SB 4.7.16

His Divine Grace
A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada

TEXT 15

yo 'sau mayāvidita-tattva-dṛśā sabhāyāṁ

kṣipto durukti-viśikhair vigaṇayya tan mām

arvāk patantam arhattama-nindayāpād

dṛṣṭyārdrayā sa bhagavān sva-kṛtena tuṣyet

SYNONYMS

yaḥ — who; asau — that; mayā — by me; avidita-tattva — without knowing the actual fact; dṛśā — by experience; sabhāyām — in the assembly; kṣiptaḥ — was abused; durukti — unkind words; viśikhaiḥ — by the arrows of; vigaṇayya — taking no notice of; tat — that; mām — me; arvāk — downwards; patantam — gliding down to hell; arhat-tama — the most respectable; nindayā — by defamation; apāt — saved; dṛṣṭyā — seeing; ārdrayā — out of compassion; saḥ — that; bhagavān — Your Lordship; sva-kṛtena — by your own mercy; tuṣyet — be satisfied.

TRANSLATION

I did not know your full glories. For this reason, I threw arrows of sharp words at you in the open assembly, although you did not take them into account. I was going down to hell because of my disobedience to you, who are the most respectable personality, but you took compassion upon me and saved me by awarding punishment. I request that you be pleased by your own mercy, since I cannot satisfy you by my words.

PURPORT

As usual, a devotee in an adverse condition of life accepts such a condition to be the mercy of the Lord. Factually, the insulting words used by Dakṣa against Lord Śiva were enough to have him thrown perpetually into a hellish life. But Lord Śiva, being kind toward him, awarded him punishment to neutralize the offense. King Dakṣa realized this and, feeling obliged for Lord Śiva's magnanimous behavior, wanted to show his gratitude. Sometimes a father punishes his child, and when the child is grown up and comes to his senses, he understands that the father's punishment was not actually punishment but mercy. Similarly, Dakṣa appreciated that the punishment offered to him by Lord Śiva was a manifestation of Lord Śiva's mercy. That is the symptom of a person making progress on the path of Kṛṣṇa consciousness. It is said that a devotee in Kṛṣṇa consciousness never takes any miserable condition of life to be condemnation by the Supreme Personality of Godhead. He accepts the miserable condition to be the grace of the Lord. He thinks, "I would have been punished or put into a more dangerous condition of life due to my past misdeeds, but the Lord has protected me. Thus I have received only a little punishment as token execution of the law of karma." Thinking of His grace in that way, a devotee always surrenders to the Supreme Personality of Godhead more and more seriously and is not disturbed by such so-called punishment.

SB 4.7.14 - SB 4.7.16