SB 11.18.14 · Srimad-Bhagavatam

Devanagari

विप्रस्य वै सन्न्यसतो देवा दारादिरूपिण: । विघ्नान् कुर्वन्त्ययं ह्यस्मानाक्रम्य समियात् परम् ॥ १४ ॥

Verse text

viprasya vai sannyasato devā dārādi-rūpiṇaḥ vighnān kurvanty ayaṁ hy asmān ākramya samiyāt param

Synonyms

viprasya — of the saintly person ; vai — indeed ; sannyasataḥ — taking sannyāsa ; devāḥ — the demigods ; dāra — ādi — rūpiṇaḥ — appearing in the form of his wife or other women and attractive objects ; vighnān — stumbling blocks ; kurvanti — create ; ayam — the sannyāsī ; hi — indeed ; asmān — them, the demigods ; ākramya — surpassing ; samiyāt — should go ; param — back home, back to Godhead .

Translation

“This man taking sannyāsa is going to surpass us and go back home, back to Godhead.” Thus thinking, the demigods create stumbling blocks on the path of the sannyāsī by appearing before him in the shape of his former wife or other women and attractive objects. But the sannyāsī should pay the demigods and their manifestations no heed.

Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)

“This man is going to surpass us and attain the supreme Brahman.” Thus thinking, the devatās create stumbling blocks on the path of the sannyāsī by appearing before him in the shape of his former wife or other women and attractive objects. He should not pay attention to the obstacles. The devatās appear as his wife and others because they fear he will surpass them and attain the supreme Brahman.

Purport

The demigods are empowered with universal administration and by their potency may appear as the former wife of a sannyāsī or as other women, so that the sannyāsī gives up his strict vows and becomes entangled in sense gratification. Lord Kṛṣṇa here encourages all sannyāsīs by telling them, “Pay no attention to such illusory manifestations. Continue your duties and go back home, back to Godhead.”