SB 10.74.35

SB 10.74.35

Devanagari

वर्णाश्रमकुलापेत: सर्वधर्मबहिष्कृत: । स्वैरवर्ती गुणैर्हीन: सपर्यां कथमर्हति ॥ ३५ ॥

Verse text

varṇāśrama-kulāpetaḥ sarva-dharma-bahiṣ-kṛtaḥ svaira-vartī guṇair hīnaḥ saparyāṁ katham arhati

Synonyms

varṇa of the principles of the four occupational orders of society ; āśrama of the four spiritual orders ; kula and of proper family upbringing ; apetaḥ devoid ; sarva from all ; dharma codes of religious duty ; bahiḥ kṛtaḥ — excluded ; svaira independently ; vartī behaving ; guṇaiḥ qualities ; hīnaḥ lacking ; saparyām worship ; katham how ; arhati deserves .

Translation

How does one who follows no principles of the social and spiritual orders or of family ethics, who has been excluded from all religious duties, who behaves whimsically, and who has no good qualities — how does such a person deserve to be worshiped?

Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)

How does one who follows no principles of the social and spiritual orders or of family ethics, who has been excluded from all religious duties, who behaves whimsically, and who has no good qualities—how does such a person deserve to be worshiped? KB 10.74.35 “We cannot even ascertain which caste this Kṛṣṇa belongs to or what His actual occupational duty is.” Actually, Kṛṣṇa does not belong to any caste, nor does He have to perform any occupational duty. It is stated in the Vedas that the Supreme Lord has nothing to do as His prescribed duty. Whatever has to be done on His behalf is executed by His different energies. Śiśupāla continued: “Kṛṣṇa does not belong to a high family. He is so independent that no one knows His principles of religious life. Indeed, it appears that He is outside the jurisdiction of all religious principles. He always acts independently, not caring for the Vedic injunctions and regulative principles. Therefore He is devoid of all good qualities.” Śiśupāla indirectly praised Kṛṣṇa by saying that He is not within the jurisdiction of Vedic injunctions. This is true because He is the Supreme Personality of Godhead. That He has “no good qualities” (guṇaiḥ hīnaḥ) means that Kṛṣṇa has no material qualities, and because He is the Supreme Personality of Godhead, He acts independently, not caring for conventions in social or religious principles. Śiśupāla continued: “Under these circumstances, how can He be fit to accept the first worship in the sacrifice?

Purport

Śrīla Prabhupāda comments: “Actually, Kṛṣṇa does not belong to any caste, nor does He have to perform any occupational duty. It is stated in the Vedas that the Supreme Lord has nothing to do as His prescribed duty. Whatever has to be done on His behalf is executed by His different energies.… Śiśupāla indirectly praised Kṛṣṇa by saying that He is not within the jurisdiction of Vedic injunction. This is true because He is the Supreme Personality of Godhead. That He has no qualities means that Kṛṣṇa has no material qualities, and because He is the Supreme Personality of Godhead, He acts independently, not caring for conventions or social or religious principles.”

Purport (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)

Varnasrama kula apetah: The superficial means is : he is a person who has transgressed (apeta) varna, asrama and kula. The other meaning is : he is a person who has accepted the position of son (itah) for Vasudeva and others who exactly accepted ( a pa) varna, asrama and kula. He is devoid of all dharma and moves independently. The other meaning is: because he is the supreme lord, he is beyond all the gunas such as sattva (dharma), because he is the form of suddha sattva. How can such a person deserve just the first worship? He is deserving of complete surrender by all.

Purport (Jiva Goswami)

“What is the fault if Kṛṣṇa disguised himself as a cowherd in order to fool him and kill him, since Śiśupāla was evil?” The external meaning is clear. The real meaning is from the point of view of Brahman or the Lord, these rules would not apply. He is beyond all names and families. Because he is beyond all this, he is free to reject it all and act independently. What use is insignificant worship meant for jīvas? From the point of view of his human pastimes, if he is beyond the rules of varṇāśrama, why should he be worshipped by devatās and sages?

Purport (Sanatana Goswami)

“What is the fault if Kṛṣṇa disguised himself as a cowherd in order to fool him and kill him, since Śiśupāla was evil?” Though, from the material point of view Kṛṣṇa lacked qualities as a true kṣatriya, the bad words arose from anger, without careful thought.