Devanagari
श्रीशुक उवाच
भगवानपि तच्छ्रुत्वा प्रहस्यागाधधीर्नृप ।
तूष्णीं बभूव सदसि सभ्याश्च तदनुव्रता: ॥ ९ ॥
Verse text
śrī-śuka uvāca
bhagavān api tac chrutvā
prahasyāgādha-dhīr nṛpa
tūṣṇīṁ babhūva sadasi
sabhyāś ca tad-anuvratāḥ
Synonyms
śrī
—
śukaḥ uvāca — Śrī Śukadeva Gosvāmī said
;
bhagavān
—
Lord Śiva
;
api
—
also
;
tat
—
that
;
śrutvā
—
hearing
;
prahasya
—
smiling
;
agādha
—
dhīḥ — whose intelligence is unfathomed
;
nṛpa
—
O King
;
tūṣṇīm
—
silent
;
babhūva
—
remained
;
sadasi
—
in the assembly
;
sabhyāḥ
—
everyone assembled there
;
ca
—
and
;
tat
—
anuvratāḥ — followed Lord Śiva (remained silent) .
Translation
Śrīla Śukadeva Gosvāmī continued: My dear King, after hearing Citraketu’s statement, Lord Śiva, the most powerful personality, whose knowledge is fathomless, simply smiled and remained silent, and all the members of the assembly followed the lord by not saying anything.
Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)
Śukadeva Gosvāmī said: O King! On hearing Citraketu's statement, powerful Śiva, whose knowledge is fathomless, simply smiled and remained silent. The members of the assembly followed his example.
Why did Śiva smile? “Citraketu wants to establish the truth about my conduct in this world.” Because he had fathomless knowledge, not understood by anyone, he understood Citraketu’s intention. Citraketu’s intention was as follows. “Śiva is the Lord. There is no harm if he performs acts which appear wrong. Those who are ignorant will criticize him, and for their offense will be destroyed, like Dakṣa. If today I can establish that he has proper conduct, it will be beneficial for the world. Viṣṇu benefits the world because he follows proper conduct. But Śiva is inauspicious because of his apparent misconduct. He should not have infamy.” Śiva thought, “I will not become angry at his harsh words which are beneficial for the world.” The assembly, understanding Śiva’s intention, also remained silent and did not become angry. If his attention had been to criticize Śiva, the assembly would have blocked their ears and left. It is said:
bhagavan-nindanaṁ śrutvā duḥsahaṁ tat sabhā-sadaḥ
karṇau pidhāya nirjagmuḥ śapantaś cedi-paṁ ruṣā
Upon hearing such intolerable blasphemy of the Lord, several members of the assembly covered their ears and walked out, angrily cursing the King of Cedi. SB 10.74.39
Purport
Citraketu’s purpose in criticizing Lord Śiva is somewhat mysterious and cannot be understood by a common man. Śrīla Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura, however, has made the following observations. Lord Śiva, being the most exalted Vaiṣṇava and one of the most powerful demigods, is able to do anything he desires. Although he was externally exhibiting the behavior of a common man and not following etiquette, such actions cannot diminish his exalted position. The difficulty is that a common man, seeing Lord Śiva’s behavior, might follow his example. As stated in
Bhagavad-gītā
(3.21)
:
yad yad ācarati śreṣṭhas
tat tad evetaro janaḥ
sa yat pramāṇaṁ kurute
lokas tad anuvartate
“Whatever action a great man performs, common men follow. And whatever standards he sets by exemplary acts, all the world pursues.” A common man might also criticize Lord Śiva, like Dakṣa, who suffered the consequences for his criticism. King Citraketu desired that Lord Śiva cease this external behavior so that others might be saved from criticizing him and thus becoming offenders. If one thinks that Viṣṇu, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, is the only perfect personality whereas the demigods, even such demigods as Lord Śiva, are inclined to improper social affairs, he is an offender. Considering all this, King Citraketu was somewhat harsh in his behavior with Lord Śiva.
Lord Śiva, who is always deep in knowledge, could understand Citraketu’s purpose, and therefore he was not at all angry; rather, he simply smiled and remained silent. The members of the assembly surrounding Lord Śiva could also understand Citraketu’s purpose. Consequently, following the behavior of Lord Śiva, they did not protest; instead, following their master, they remained silent. If the members of the assembly thought that Citraketu had blasphemed Lord Śiva, they would certainly have left at once, blocking their ears with their hands.