SB 10.74.34 · Srimad-Bhagavatam

Devanagari

तपोविद्याव्रतधरान् ज्ञानविध्वस्तकल्मषान् । परमऋषीन्ब्रह्मनिष्ठाल्ँ लोकपालैश्च पूजितान् ॥ ३३ ॥ सदस्पतीनतिक्रम्य गोपाल: कुलपांसन: । यथा काक: पुरोडाशं सपर्यां कथमर्हति ॥ ३४ ॥

Verse text

tapo-vidyā-vrata-dharān jṣāna-vidhvasta-kalmaṣān paramaṛṣīn brahma-niṣṭhāḻ loka-pālaiś ca pūjitān sadas-patīn atikramya gopālaḥ kula-pāṁsanaḥ yathā kākaḥ puroḍāśaṁ saparyāṁ katham arhati

Synonyms

tapaḥ — austerity ; vidyā — Vedic knowledge ; vrata — severe vows ; dharān — who maintain ; jṣāna — by spiritual understanding ; vidhvasta — eradicated ; kalmaṣān — whose impurities ; parama — topmost ; ṛṣīn — sages ; brahma — to the Absolute Truth ; niṣṭhān — dedicated ; loka — pālaiḥ — by the rulers of the planetary systems ; ca — and ; pūjitān — worshiped ; sadaḥ — patīn — leaders of the assembly ; atikramya — passing over ; gopālaḥ — a cowherd ; kula — of His family ; pāṁsanaḥ — the disgrace ; yathā — as ; kākaḥ — a crow ; puroḍāśam — the sacred rice cake (offered to the demigods) ; saparyām — worship ; katham — how ; arhati — deserves .

Translation

How can you pass over the most exalted members of this assembly — topmost sages dedicated to the Absolute Truth endowed with powers of austerity, divine insight and strict adherence to severe vows, sanctified by knowledge and worshiped even by the rulers of the universe? How does this cowherd boy, the disgrace of His family, deserve your worship, any more than a crow deserves to eat the sacred puroḍāśa rice cake?

Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)

How can you pass over the most exalted members of this assembly—topmost sages dedicated to the Absolute Truth endowed with powers of austerity, divine insight and strict adherence to severe vows, sanctified by knowledge and worshiped even by the rulers of the universe? How does this cowherd boy, the disgrace of His family, deserve your worship, any more than a crow deserves to eat the sacred puroḍāśa rice cake? KB 10.74.33-34 “I can see that in this meeting there are many personalities who have undergone great austerities, who are highly learned, and who have performed many penances. By their knowledge and direction, they can deliver many persons who are suffering from the pangs of material existence. There are great ṛṣis here whose knowledge has no bounds, as well as many self-realized persons and brāhmaṇas also, and therefore I think that any one of them could have been selected for the first worship because they are worshipable even by the great demigods, kings and emperors. I cannot understand how you have selected this cowherd boy, Kṛṣṇa, and have left aside all these great personalities. I think Kṛṣṇa to be no better than a crow—how can He be fit to accept the first worship in this great sacrifice?

Purport

The great commentator Śrīdhara Svāmī has analyzed Śiśupāla’s words as follows. The term go-pāla means not only “cowherd” but also “protector of the Vedas and the earth.” Similarly, kula-pāṁsana has a double meaning. Śiśupāla intended it to mean “the disgrace of His family,” which is its meaning when divided as above. But the word may also be analyzed as ku-lapām aṁsana, giving a totally different meaning. Kulapām indicates those who prattle with crooked words contrary to the Vedas, and aṁsana, derived from the verb aṁsayati, means “destroyer.” In other words, he was praising Lord Kṛṣṇa as “He who vanquishes all misguided and frivolous speculations about the nature of truth.” Similarly, although Śiśupāla wanted to compare Lord Kṛṣṇa to a crow with the words yathā kākaḥ, these words may also be divided yathā a-kākaḥ. In that case, according to Śrīla Śrīdhara Svāmī, the word kāka is a combination of ka and āka, which indicate material happiness and misery. Thus Lord Kṛṣṇa is akāka in the sense that He is beyond all material misery and happiness, being on the pure, transcendental platform. Finally, Śiśupāla was right in saying the Lord Kṛṣṇa does not deserve merely the puroḍāśa rice cake, offered to the lesser demigods as a substitute for the heavenly beverage soma. In fact, Lord Kṛṣṇa deserves to receive everything that we possess, since He is the ultimate proprietor of everything, including ourselves. Thus we should give Lord Kṛṣṇa our life and soul, not merely a ritualistic offering of rice cakes.

Purport (Jiva Goswami)

In the absence of persons qualified for worship maybe you could do this, but how can you choose him when so many qualified persons are present? In two verses he explains his position. You have overlooked great sages who have performed sva-dharma (tapo), possess knowledge and have done great austerities, such as the fourteen vratas. He has spoiled the name of his family by killing his uncle (kula-pāṁsanaḥ). The real meaning is as follows. The first part is the same. Kṛṣṇa is “he who vanquishes those who speak the opposite of the Vedas (kulapa amśam).” He is without material misery and material happiness (a—ka—akaḥ). Thus he does not deserve mere cakes but everything. He does not just deserve worship, but full surrender. Gopālāḥ means a person of a cowherd family by material vision. But in his words there is a great glorification because those words describe the Lord’s non-material pastimes, since Gopāla is the presiding deity of great mantras mentioned in the Vedic scriptures. From the external viewpoint also he is the protector (pālaḥ) of the Vedas and earth (go).

Purport (Sanatana Goswami)

In the absence of persons qualified for worship, maybe you could do this, but how can you choose him when so many qualified persons are present? In two verses he explains his position. You have overlooked great sages who have performed sva-dharma (tapo), possess knowledge and have done great austerities, such as the fourteen vratas. He has spoiled the name of his family by killing his uncle (kula-pāṁsanaḥ). The real meaning is as follows. The first part is the same. (He surpasses all the qualified person in the assembly.) Kṛṣṇa is “he who vanquishes those who speak the opposite of the Vedas (kulapa amśam).” He is without material misery and material happiness (a—ka—akaḥ). Thus he does not deserve mere cakes but everything. He does not just deserve worship, but full surrender. Gopālāḥ means a member of a cowherd family by material vision. But in his words there is a great glorification because those words describe the Lord’s non-material pastimes, since Gopāla is the presiding deity of great mantras mentioned in the Vedic scriptures. From the external viewpoint also he is the protector (pālaḥ) of the Vedas and earth (go). Or gopālaḥ means he who completely (ā) accepts (la) the cowherds (gopa), not the Yadus as his friends. This is meant as a criticism. But actually it is praise of Kṛṣṇa for his great mercy. Kṛṣṇa contaminated his family by killing his uncle (kula-pāṁsanaḥ). .