Devanagari
अहो अस्य नृशंसस्य श्रियोन्मत्तस्य पश्यत ।
धर्मव्यतिक्रमं विष्णोरभक्तस्येशमानिन: ॥ ४४ ॥
Verse text
aho asya nṛ-śaṁsasya
śriyonmattasya paśyata
dharma-vyatikramaṁ viṣṇor
abhaktasyeśa-māninaḥ
Synonyms
aho
—
alas
;
asya
—
of this man
;
nṛ
—
śaṁsasya — who is so cruel
;
śriyā unmattasya
—
puffed up because of great opulence
;
paśyata
—
everyone just see
;
dharma
—
vyatikramam — the transgression of the regulative principles of religion
;
viṣṇoḥ abhaktasya
—
who is not a devotee of Lord Viṣṇu
;
īśa
—
māninaḥ — considering himself the Supreme Lord, independent of everything .
Translation
Alas, just see the behavior of this cruel man! He is not a devotee of Lord Viṣṇu. Being proud of his material opulence and his position, he considers himself God. Just see how he has transgressed the laws of religion.
Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)
Alas, just see the transgression of this cruel non-devotee, intoxicated with wealth, who thinks he is a controller!
There is another meaning to Durvāsā’s words. Nṛśaṁsasya means “of Ambarīṣa who is praised by all people.” Śriyonmattasya means “of Ambarīṣa who is not intoxicated with wealth.” Abhaktasya means “of Ambarīṣa, to whom no devotee can compare.” Īśa-māninaḥ means “of Ambarīṣa who gives regard to the Lord” since he did not transgress the Dvādaśī. Or it can mean “of Ambarīṣa who is respected by Indra and others.” Vyatikramam can also mean “having not transgressed dharma” since the affix vi can mean “without.”
Purport
Śrīla Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura has diverted the entire meaning of this verse as spoken by Durvāsā Muni. Durvāsā Muni used the word
nṛ-śaṁsasya
to indicate that the King was cruel, but Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura interprets it to mean that the King’s character was glorified by all the local people. He says that the word
nṛ
means “by all the local people” and that
śaṁsasya
means “of he (Ambarīṣa) whose character was glorified.” Similarly, one who is very rich becomes mad because of his wealth and is therefore called
śriyā-unmattasya,
but Śrīla Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura interprets these words to mean that although Mahārāja Ambarīṣa was such an opulent king, he was not mad after money, for he had already surpassed the madness of material opulence. Similarly, the word
īśa-māninaḥ
is interpreted to mean that he was so respectful to the Supreme Personality of Godhead that he did not transgress the laws for observing Ekādaśī-pāraṇa, despite the thinking of Durvāsā Muni, for he only took water. In this way, Śrīla Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura has supported Ambarīṣa Mahārāja and all his activities.