Devanagari
भूतानि विष्णो: सुरपूजितानि
दुर्दर्शलिङ्गानि महाद्भुतानि ।
रक्षन्ति तद्भक्तिमत: परेभ्यो
मत्तश्च मर्त्यानथ सर्वतश्च ॥ १८ ॥
Verse text
bhūtāni viṣṇoḥ sura-pūjitāni
durdarśa-liṅgāni mahādbhutāni
rakṣanti tad-bhaktimataḥ parebhyo
mattaś ca martyān atha sarvataś ca
Synonyms
bhūtāni
—
living entities or servants
;
viṣṇoḥ
—
of Lord Viṣṇu
;
sura
—
pūjitāni — who are worshiped by the demigods
;
durdarśa
—
liṅgāni — possessing forms not easily seen
;
mahā
—
adbhutāni — greatly wonderful
;
rakṣanti
—
they protect
;
tat
—
bhakti — mataḥ — the devotees of the Lord
;
parebhyaḥ
—
from others who are inimical
;
mattaḥ
—
from me (Yamarāja) and my order carriers
;
ca
—
and
;
martyān
—
the human beings
;
atha
—
thus
;
sarvataḥ
—
from everything
;
ca
—
and .
Translation
The order carriers of Lord Viṣṇu, who are worshiped even by the demigods, possess wonderful bodily features exactly like those of Viṣṇu and are very rarely seen. The Viṣṇudūtas protect the devotees of the Lord from the hands of enemies, from envious persons and even from my jurisdiction, as well as from natural disturbances.
Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)
The order carriers of Lord Viṣṇu, worshiped even by the devatās, possessing wonderful bodily feature, but very rarely seen, protect the devotees of the Lord on earth from the hands of enemies and from me, as well as from natural disturbances.
O fools! They are worshipped even by the devatās. You are not worshipped by anyone and you have offended them. They protect the devotees from me. How low I am!
Purport
Yamarāja has specifically described the qualities of the Viṣṇudūtas to convince his own servants not to be envious of them. Yamarāja warned the Yamadūtas that the Viṣṇudūtas are worshiped with respectful obeisances by the demigods and are always very alert to protect the devotees of the Lord from the hands of enemies, from natural disturbances and from all dangerous conditions in this material world. Sometimes the members of the Kṛṣṇa Consciousness Society are afraid of the impending danger of world war and ask what would happen to them if a war should occur. In all kinds of danger, they should be confident of their protection by the Viṣṇudūtas or the Supreme Personality of Godhead, as confirmed in
Bhagavad-gītā
(
kaunteya pratijānīhi na me bhaktaḥ praṇaśyati
). Material danger is not meant for devotees. This is also confirmed in
Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam.
Padaṁ padaṁ yad vipadāṁ na teṣām:
in this material world there are dangers at every step, but they are not meant for devotees who have fully surrendered unto the lotus feet of the Lord. The pure devotees of Lord Viṣṇu may rest assured of the Lord’s protection, and as long as they are in this material world they should fully engage in devotional service by preaching the cult of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu and Lord Kṛṣṇa, namely the Hare Kṛṣṇa movement of Kṛṣṇa consciousness.