SB 10.4.38 · Srimad-Bhagavatam

Devanagari

यथामयोऽङ्गे समुपेक्षितो नृभि- र्न शक्यते रूढपदश्चिकित्सितुम् । यथेन्द्रियग्राम उपेक्षितस्तथा रिपुर्महान् बद्धबलो न चाल्यते ॥ ३८ ॥

Verse text

yathāmayo ’ṅge samupekṣito nṛbhir na śakyate rūḍha-padaś cikitsitum yathendriya-grāma upekṣitas tathā ripur mahān baddha-balo na cālyate

Synonyms

yathā — as ; āmayaḥ — a disease ; aṅge — in the body ; samupekṣitaḥ — being neglected ; nṛbhiḥ — by men ; na — not ; śakyate — is able ; rūḍha — padaḥ — when it is acute ; cikitsitum — to be treated ; yathā — and as ; indriya — grāmaḥ — the senses ; upekṣitaḥ — not controlled in the beginning ; tathā — similarly ; ripuḥ mahān — a great enemy ; baddha — balaḥ — if he becomes strong ; na — not ; cālyate — can be controlled .

Translation

As a disease, if initially neglected, becomes acute and impossible to cure, or as the senses, if not controlled at first, are impossible to control later, an enemy, if neglected in the beginning, later becomes insurmountable.

Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)

As a disease, if initially neglected, becomes acute and impossible to cure, or as the senses, if not controlled at first, are impossible to control later, an enemy, if neglected in the beginning, later becomes insurmountable. KB 10.4.38 The demons continued to say, “If there is some disease in the body which is neglected, it worsens and becomes incurable. Similarly, when one is not careful about restraining the senses and lets them loose, it is then very difficult to control them. Therefore, we must now be very careful of the demigods before they get too strong to be subdued.

Purport (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)

As a disease in the body when neglected becomes acute (rudha pada) and as senses not brought under control in the beginning become uncontrollable, so the enemy, neglected and becoming strong, can become victorious.

Purport (Jiva Goswami)

“If Viṣṇu is hiding what harm can he do to me?” This verse answers. Sometimes a powerful medicine cannot cure a disease left unattended. Another example is given concerning the senses. If the enemy becomes extremely strong he cannot be moved from his place, what to speak of killing him.