SB 11.23.5

SB 11.23.5

Devanagari

केनचिद् भिक्षुणा गीतं परिभूतेन दुर्जनै: । स्मरता धृतियुक्तेन विपाकं निजकर्मणाम् ॥ ५ ॥

Verse text

kenacid bhikṣuṇā gītaṁ paribhūtena durjanaiḥ smaratā dhṛti-yuktena vipākaṁ nija-karmaṇām

Synonyms

kenacit by a certain ; bhikṣuṇā sannyāsī ; gītam sung ; paribhūtena who was insulted ; durjanaiḥ by impious persons ; smaratā remembering ; dhṛti yuktena — fixing his resolution ; vipākam the consequences ; nija karmaṇām — of his own past activities .

Translation

Once a certain sannyāsī was insulted in many ways by impious men. However, with determination he remembered that he was suffering the fruit of his own previous karma. I will narrate to you his story and that which he spoke.

Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)

Once a certain sannyāsī was insulted by impious men. However, with determination he remembered that he was suffering the results of his own previous karma. Vipakam means result.

Purport

Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura comments as follows. “Often those who give up the materialistic path and devote themselves to renunciation are attacked by impious persons. This analysis, however, is superficial, since the punishment is actually the cumulative result of one’s past karma. Some renunciants show lack of tolerance when presented with the remnants of their previous sins and thus are forced to enter again onto the path of impious life. Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu therefore instructs that one should become as tolerant as a tree. If a neophyte on the path of devotional service to the Lord’s pure devotees is attacked by envious persons, he must accept it as a consequence of his previous fruitive activities. One should be intelligent and avoid future unhappiness by rejecting the ethic of an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth. If one refuses to enter into enmity with envious men, they will automatically leave him alone.”