SB 10.27.7

SB 10.27.7

Devanagari

ये मद्विधाज्ञा जगदीशमानिन-स्त्वां वीक्ष्य कालेऽभयमाशु तन्मदम् हित्वार्यमार्गं प्रभजन्त्यपस्मयाईहा खलानामपि तेऽनुशासनम् ॥ ७ ॥

Verse text

ye mad-vidhājṣā jagad-īśa-māninas tvāṁ vīkṣya kāle ’bhayam āśu tan-madam hitvārya-mārgaṁ prabhajanty apasmayā īhā khalānām api te ’nuśāsanam

Synonyms

ye those who ; mat vidha — like me ; ajṣāḥ foolish persons ; jagat īśa — as lords of the universe ; māninaḥ falsely identifying themselves ; tvām You ; vīkṣya seeing ; kāle at time (of fear) ; abhayam fearless ; āśu quickly ; tat their ; madam false pride ; hitvā abandoning ; ārya of devotees progressing in spiritual life ; mārgam the path ; prabhajanti they take to fully ; apa smayāḥ — free of pride ; īhā the activity ; khalānām of the wicked ; api indeed ; te by You ; anuśāsanam the instruction .

Translation

Even fools like me, who proudly think themselves universal lords, quickly give up their conceit and directly take to the path of the spiritually progressive when they see You are fearless even in the face of time. Thus You punish the mischievous only to instruct them.

Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)

Even fools like me, who proudly think themselves universal lords, quickly give up their conceit and directly take to the path of the spiritually progressive when they see You are fearless even in the face of time. Thus You punish the mischievous only to instruct them. KB 10.27.7 “There are many such foolish personalities in this world, like me, but in due course of time, when they come to their senses, they surrender unto You and again engage themselves properly by rendering service unto You. And that is the purpose of Your chastising persons envious of You.

Purport

History is filled with examples of the supreme authority breaking the conceit of foolish men. Modern world leaders proudly fight one another, placing the common people in unprecedented jeopardy. Similarly Indra, proud of his apparently illustrious position, dared to threaten the lives of the innocent residents of Vṛndāvana with terrible weapons, until his arrogance was curbed by the dynamic response of the Supreme Lord. Nowadays, governments in the Western countries tend to be elected democratically, and thus the mass of people become identified with the destiny of their leaders. When the proud leaders engage in violence, the people who elected them bear the brunt of such belligerent decisions. Thus the people in the democratic nations of the world should elect Kṛṣṇa conscious leaders, who will establish an administration consonant with the laws of God. If they fail to do so, their materialistic leaders, oblivious of the will of the Supreme Lord, will undoubtedly be chastised by cataclysmic events, and the people who elected such leaders, being responsible for their leaders’ acts, will share in the suffering. It is ironic that in modern democracies not only do the leaders consider themselves universal controllers, but the mass of people, considering the leaders merely their representatives rather than the representatives of God, also consider themselves, as a people, to be the controllers of their nation. Thus the chastisement mentioned in this verse has become unprecedentedly applicable to people in general in the modern world. Modern man should not simply make himself a lesson of nature by falling down from his proud position; rather he should submissively execute the will of the all-attractive Personality of Godhead, the Absolute Truth, Śrī Kṛṣṇa, and usher in a new era of sanity, tranquillity and widespread enlightenment.

Purport (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)

"Among those who think themselves the Lord, I am the lowest." With this mood, Indra speaks. Mad vidha ajna indicates that he is the most foolish of the foolish, as the comparison (mad vidha -like me) indicates the extreme, as in the example of a face beautiful as the moon (the moon indicates most beautiful). "Seeing that you are fearless at the time of fear, during the time of the severe rain, I give up my false identity as controller." Or the meaning can be : "Not knowing what kind of punishment I will get, seeing you as a cause of fear, I give up my false identity." "Giving up pride, we follow (prabhajanti) the path of your devotees (aryamarga), without pride (apasmaya). Therefore, this pastime of lifting Govardhana is your punishment for me (anusasanam)."

Purport (Jiva Goswami)

This verse explains breaking pride and providing the method of producing benefit for the proud. The benefit is described: they take to the path of devotion. Though your pastimes (īhā) are for giving bliss to the devotees, they are also instruction for the wicked like me.

Purport (Sanatana Goswami)

“I perform activities for the pleasure of my devotees, not to break the pride of people like you.” That is true. Our pride will be broken by itself. At some time (kale) seeing you directly as fear, or as being fearless, the ignorant worship you with prema (prabhajanti). This is the benefit. Not only by words but by action (īhā) these persons (te) become a lesson for the wicked. Or in your (te) activities such as lifting Govardhana, there is a lesson even for the wicked like me.