SB 1.10.19

SB 1.10.19

Devanagari

अश्रूयन्ताशिष: सत्यास्तत्र तत्र द्विजेरिता: । नानुरूपानुरूपाश्च निर्गुणस्य गुणात्मन: ॥ १९ ॥

Verse text

aśrūyantāśiṣaḥ satyās tatra tatra dvijeritāḥ nānurūpānurūpāś ca nirguṇasya guṇātmanaḥ

Synonyms

aśrūyanta being heard ; āśiṣaḥ benediction ; satyāḥ all truths ; tatra here ; tatra there ; dvija īritāḥ — sounded by learned brāhmaṇas ; na not ; anurūpa befitting ; anurūpāḥ fitting ; ca also ; nirguṇasya of the Absolute ; guṇa ātmanaḥ — playing the role of a human being .

Translation

It was being heard here and there that the benedictions being paid to Kṛṣṇa were neither befitting nor unbefitting because they were all for the Absolute, who was now playing the part of a human being.

Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)

On the road, he heard the factual blessings uttered by brāhmaṇas, which were not appropriate for the Lord who is beyond all qualities of this world, but which were appropriate for the Lord who has spiritual qualities relished by his devotees.

Purport

At places there were sounds of Vedic benediction aiming at the Personality of Godhead, Śrī Kṛṣṇa. The benedictions were fitting in the sense that the Lord was playing the part of a human being, as if a cousin of Mahārāja Yudhiṣṭhira, but they were also unfitting because the Lord is absolute and has nothing to do with any kind of material relativities. He is nirguṇa, or there are no material qualities in Him, but He is full of transcendental qualities. In the transcendental world there is nothing contradictory, whereas in the relative world everything has its opposite. In the relative world white is the opposite conception of black, but in the transcendental world there is no distinction between white and black. Therefore the sounds of benedictions uttered by the learned brāhmaṇas here and there appear to be contradictory in relation with the Absolute Person, but when they are applied to the Absolute Person they lose all contradiction and become transcendental. One example may clear this idea. Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa is sometimes described as a thief. He is very famous amongst His pure devotees as the Mākhana-cora. He used to steal butter from the houses of neighbors at Vṛndāvana in His early age. Since then He is famous as a thief. But in spite of His being famous as a thief, He is worshiped as a thief, whereas in the mundane world a thief is punished and is never praised. Since He is the Absolute Personality of Godhead, everything is applicable to Him, and still in spite of all contradictions He is the Supreme Personality of Godhead.

Commentary (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)

The blessings are described as satya or true because Kṛṣṇa never deviates from those descriptions, but the blessings were both inappropriate (nānurūpāḥ) and appropriate (anurūpāḥ). The sandhi is poetic license. From the point of view of the Lord’s powers, blessings such as “Be happy!” are inappropriate for one who is without material qualities (nirguṇasya) and full of spiritual bliss. From the point of view of sweetness, the same blessings are appropriate for the Lord who has spiritual qualities such as being controlled by the devotee’s prema and being devoted to brāhmaṇas (guṇātmaṇaḥ). The words are appropriate because the Lord’s words in reply “I am always happy with your blessings” which describe his qualities should not be false. As well since Kṛṣṇa is both the viṣaya and āśraya of dāsya, sakhya, vātsalya and mādhurya rasas, he is actually filled with spiritual qualities of happiness and distress arising from meeting and separating from his devotees.