SB 10.88.21

SB 10.88.21

Devanagari

देवं स वव्रे पापीयान् वरं भूतभयावहम् । यस्य यस्य करं शीर्ष्णि धास्ये स म्रियतामिति ॥ २१ ॥

Verse text

devaṁ sa vavre pāpīyān varaṁ bhūta-bhayāvaham yasya yasya karaṁ śīrṣṇi dhāsye sa mriyatām iti

Synonyms

devam from the lord ; saḥ he ; vavre chose ; pāpīyān the sinful demon ; varam a benediction ; bhūta to all living beings ; bhaya fear ; āvaham bringing ; yasya yasya of whomever ; karam my hand ; śīrṣṇi on the head ; dhāsye I place ; saḥ he ; mriyatām should die ; iti thus .

Translation

[Śukadeva Gosvāmī continued:] The benediction sinful Vṛka chose from the lord would terrify all living beings. Vṛka said, “May death come to whomever I touch upon the head with my hand.”

Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)

[Śukadeva Gosvāmī continued:] The benediction sinful Vṛka chose from the lord would terrify all living beings. Vṛka said, "May death come to whomever I touch upon the head with my hand." KB 10.88.21 When the demon was offered this facility by Lord Śiva, he asked for a fearful and abominable benediction. The demon was very sinful, and sinful persons do not know what sort of benediction should be asked from the deity. Therefore he asked Lord Śiva to bless him with such power that as soon as he would touch anyone’s head, it would immediately crack and the man would die. The demons are described in the Bhagavad-gītā as duṣkṛtīs, or miscreants. Kṛtī means “very meritorious,” but when duḥ is added it means “abominable.” Instead of surrendering unto the Supreme Personality of Godhead, the duṣkṛtīs worship different demigods to derive abominable material benefits. Although the duṣkṛtīs have brain power and merit, their merit and brain power are used for abominable activities. Sometimes, for example, materialistic scientists invent a lethal weapon. The scientific research for such an invention certainly requires a very good brain, but instead of inventing something beneficial to human society they invent something to accelerate death, which is already assured to every man. They cannot show their meritorious power by inventing something which can save man from death; instead they invent weapons which accelerate the process of death. Similarly, Vṛkāsura, instead of asking Lord Śiva for something beneficial to human society, asked for something very dangerous to human society. Lord Śiva is powerful enough to give any benediction, so the demon could have asked something beneficial from him, but for his personal interest he asked that anyone whose head would be touched by his hand would at once die.

Purport (Jiva Goswami)

Instead of devam sometimes devāt is seen. Devam or devāt indicates a person who should give beneficial benedictions. The cause of the benediction was Vṛka who was most wicked. Yasya yasya indicates that not once only he wanted to touch the head of a person, but many times. In this way he thought of killing all the devatās.

Purport (Sanatana Goswami)

None Instead of devam sometimes devāt is seen. Devam or devāt indicates a person who should give beneficial benedictions. The cause of the benediction was Vṛka who was most wicked. Yasya yasya indicates that not once only he wanted to touch the head of a person, but many times. In this way he thought of killing all the devatās.