SB 10.4.42 · Srimad-Bhagavatam

Devanagari

स हि सर्वसुराध्यक्षो ह्यसुरद्विड् गुहाशय: । तन्मूला देवता: सर्वा: सेश्वरा: सचतुर्मुखा: । अयं वै तद्वधोपायो यद‍ृषीणां विहिंसनम् ॥ ४२ ॥

Verse text

sa hi sarva-surādhyakṣo hy asura-dviḍ guhā-śayaḥ tan-mūlā devatāḥ sarvāḥ seśvarāḥ sa-catur-mukhāḥ ayaṁ vai tad-vadhopāyo yad ṛṣīṇāṁ vihiṁsanam

Synonyms

saḥ — He (Lord Viṣṇu) ; hi — indeed ; sarva — sura — adhyakṣaḥ — the leader of all the demigods ; hi — indeed ; asura — dviṭ — the enemy of the asuras ; guhā — śayaḥ — He is the Supersoul within the core of everyone’s heart ; tat — mūlāḥ — taking shelter at His lotus feet ; devatāḥ — the demigods exist ; sarvāḥ — all of them ; sa — īśvarāḥ — including Lord Śiva ; sa — catuḥ — mukhāḥ — as well as Lord Brahmā, who has four faces ; ayam — this is ; vai — indeed ; tat — vadha — upāyaḥ — the only means of killing Him (Viṣṇu) ; yat — which ; ṛṣīṇām — of great sages, saintly persons, or Vaiṣṇavas ; vihiṁsanam — suppression with all kinds of persecution .

Translation

Lord Viṣṇu, the Supersoul within the core of everyone’s heart, is the ultimate enemy of the asuras and is therefore known as asura-dviṭ. He is the leader of all the demigods because all the demigods, including Lord Śiva and Lord Brahmā, exist under His protection. The great saintly persons, sages and Vaiṣṇavas also depend upon Him. To persecute the Vaiṣṇavas, therefore, is the only way to kill Viṣṇu.

Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)

Lord Viṣṇu, the Supersoul within the core of everyone's heart, is the ultimate enemy of the asuras and is therefore known as asura-dviṭ. He is the leader of all the demigods because all the demigods, including Lord Śiva and Lord Brahmā, exist under His protection. The great saintly persons, sages and Vaiṣṇavas also depend upon Him. To persecute the Vaiṣṇavas, therefore, is the only way to kill Viṣṇu. KB 10.4.42 “Lord Viṣṇu is situated in everyone’s heart and is the leader of all demigods, including Lord Śiva and Lord Brahmā. Therefore we think that to persecute the great sages and brāhmaṇas is to kill Lord Viṣṇu.”

Purport

The demigods and the Vaiṣṇavas especially are part and parcel of the Supreme Lord, Viṣṇu, because they are always obedient to His orders ( oṁ tad viṣṇoḥ paramaṁ padaṁ sadā paśyanti sūrayaḥ ). The demoniac followers of Kaṁsa thought that if the Vaiṣṇavas, saintly persons and sages were persecuted, the original body of Viṣṇu would naturally be destroyed. Thus they decided to suppress Vaiṣṇavism. The asuras perpetually struggle to persecute the Vaiṣṇavas because they do not want Vaiṣṇavism to spread. Vaiṣṇavas preach only devotional service, not encouraging karmīs, jṣānīs and yogīs, because if one must liberate oneself from material, conditional life, one must ultimately become a Vaiṣṇava. Our Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement is directed with this understanding, and therefore the asuras always try to suppress it.

Purport (Jiva Goswami)

By killing the brāhmaṇas the devatās will also be killed. It will useless to kill them, like grinding what is already ground. The word hi is used twice to indicate that Viṣṇu is the enemy of the demons and is well known as the leader of the devatās. “Why should he not be killed directly?” He hides in the heart” he is always invisible. Though he has been born on earth, he cannot be seen because he is hiding. He is living somewhere. They then summarize their reasoning. Because he is hiding, we cannot catch him even if we kill all the children. External life is maintained by cows’ milk. The cows are the root of dharma, but by killing only them, he will still escape. The method of killing Viṣṇu is to kill the brāhmaṇa sages. Previously it was said that Viṣṇu took shelter of dharma, which gives him life. The Vedas are the root of Viṣṇu. They are like his body. The brāhmaṇas are the shelter of all these items. By attacking the places which give him life, by attacking his roots, we can kill him, though he hides within like the commander of a fort.