SB 10.27.16 · Srimad-Bhagavatam

Devanagari

मामैश्वर्यश्रीमदान्धो दण्डपाणिं न पश्यति तं भ्रंशयामि सम्पद्‌भ्यो यस्य चेच्छाम्यनुग्रहम् ॥ १६ ॥

Verse text

mām aiśvarya-śrī-madāndho daṇḍa pāṇiṁ na paśyati taṁ bhraṁśayāmi sampadbhyo yasya cecchāmy anugraham

Synonyms

mām — Me ; aiśvarya — of his power ; śrī — and opulence ; mada — by the intoxication ; andhaḥ — rendered blind ; daṇḍa — with the rod of punishment ; pāṇim — in My hand ; na paśyati — one does not see ; tam — him ; bhraṁśayāmi — I make fall ; sampadbhyaḥ — from his material assets ; yasya — for whom ; ca — and ; icchāmi — I desire ; anugraham — benefit .

Translation

A man blinded by intoxication with his power and opulence cannot see Me nearby with the rod of punishment in My hand. If I desire his real welfare, I drag him down from his materially fortunate position.

Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)

A man blinded by intoxication with his power and opulence cannot see Me nearby with the rod of punishment in My hand. If I desire his real welfare, I drag him down from his materially fortunate position. KB 10.27.16 “If I find someone overpowered by false pride, in order to show him My causeless mercy I withdraw all his opulences.” It is noteworthy that Kṛṣṇa sometimes removes all of a rich man’s opulences in order to facilitate his becoming a soul surrendered to Him. This is a special favor of the Lord’s. Sometimes it is seen that a person is very opulent materially, but due to his devotional service to the Lord he may be reduced to poverty. One should not think, however, that because he worshiped the Supreme Lord he became poverty-stricken. The real purport is that when a person is a pure devotee but at the same time, by miscalculation, wants to lord it over material nature, the Lord shows His special mercy by taking away all material opulences until at last he surrenders unto the Supreme Lord.

Purport

One may argue, “God should desire everyone’s real welfare; therefore why should Lord Kṛṣṇa state in this verse that He removes the intoxicating opulence of one who is about to receive His mercy, rather than simply stating that He will remove everyone’s opulence and bless everyone?” On the other hand, we may point out that irrevocable death occurs for everyone, and thus Lord Kṛṣṇa does take away everyone’s opulence and everyone’s false pride. However, if we apply the Lord’s statement to events within one’s immediate life, before death, we may refer to Kṛṣṇa’s statement in the Bhagavad-gītā (4.11) : ye yathā māṁ prapadyante tāṁs tathaiva bhajāmy aham. “As people surrender to Me, I reward them accordingly.” Lord Kṛṣṇa desires everyone’s welfare, but when He says here yasya cecchāmy anugraham, “for one whose welfare I desire,” it is understood that the Lord refers to those who by their own activities and thoughts have manifested a desire to achieve spiritual benefit. Lord Kṛṣṇa wants everyone to be happy in Kṛṣṇa consciousness, but when He sees that a specific person also desires spiritual happiness, the Lord especially desires it for that person. This is a natural act of reciprocation consistent with the Lord’s statement samo ’haṁ sarva-bhūteṣu : “I am equal in My attitude to all living beings.” ( Bg. 9.29 )

Purport (Jiva Goswami)

Otherwise you would go astray since you became devoid of unlimited knowledge or blind by intoxication with power and wealth. Such a person does not see me with a cow stick in my hand (for the worshippers of Kṛṣṇa) or does not realize me with the stick of punishment in my hand (for people like you). Speaking of his lordship in cowherd pastimes, he teaches bhakti found in the internal associates such as Nanda. Since that person does not see this, I desire to give him mercy. Thus I take away his wealth which causes his power. But seeing that this would be intolerable to you, I do not do this. Instead, I only destroyed your sacrifice.

Purport (Sanatana Goswami)

A person blinded with the intoxication of wealth does not know (paśyat) the punishment in the form of time. Another version has aiśvarya-śrī-madāndhaḥ: he is blinded by intoxication with power and wealth. If I desire to show him mercy I destroy his power by his wealth. Wealth is the cause of his power.