SB 7.4.2
A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada
TEXT 2
- śrī-brahmovāca
- tāteme durlabhāḥ puṁsāṁ
- yān vṛṇīṣe varān mama
- tathāpi vitarāmy aṅga
- varān yadyapi durlabhān
SYNONYMS
śrī-brahmā uvāca — Lord Brahmā said; tāta — O dear son; ime — all these; durlabhāḥ — very rarely obtained; puṁsām — by men; yān — those which; vṛṇīṣe — you ask; varān — benedictions; mama — from me; tathāpi — still; vitarāmi — I shall deliver; aṅga — O Hiraṇyakaśipu; varān — the benedictions; yadyapi — although; durlabhān — not generally available.
TRANSLATION
Lord Brahmā said: O Hiraṇyakaśipu, these benedictions for which you have asked are difficult to obtain for most men. Nonetheless, O my son, I shall grant you them although they are generally not available.
PURPORT
Material benedictions are not always exactly worthy of being called benedictions. If one possesses more and more, a benediction itself may become a curse, for just as achieving material opulence in this material world requires great strength and endeavor, maintaining it also requires great endeavor. Lord Brahmā informed Hiraṇyakaśipu that although he was ready to offer him whatever he had asked, the result of the benedictions would be very difficult for Hiraṇyakaśipu to maintain. Nonetheless, since Brahmā had promised, he wanted to grant all the benedictions asked. The word durlabhān indicates that one should not take benedictions one cannot enjoy peacefully.