SB 10.88.11 · Srimad-Bhagavatam

Devanagari

अतो मां सुदुराराध्यं हित्वान्यान् भजते जन: । ततस्त आशुतोषेभ्यो लब्धराज्यश्रियोद्धता: । मत्ता: प्रमत्ता वरदान् विस्मयन्त्यवजानते ॥ ११ ॥

Verse text

ato māṁ su-durārādhyaṁ hitvānyān bhajate janaḥ tatas ta āśu-toṣebhyo labdha-rājya-śriyoddhatāḥ mattāḥ pramattā vara-dān vismayanty avajānate

Synonyms

ataḥ — therefore ; mām — Me ; su — very ; durārādhyam — difficult to worship ; hitvā — leaving aside ; anyān — others ; bhajate — worship ; janaḥ — the ordinary populace ; tataḥ — consequently ; te — they ; āśu — quickly ; toṣebhyaḥ — from those who are satisfied ; labdha — received ; rājya — royal ; śriyā — by opulence ; uddhatāḥ — made arrogant ; mattāḥ — intoxicated with pride ; pramattāḥ — negligent ; vara — of benedictions ; dān — the givers ; vismayanti — becoming too bold ; avajānate — they insult .

Translation

Because I am difficult to worship, people generally avoid Me and instead worship other deities, who are quickly satisfied. When people receive kingly opulences from these deities, they become arrogant, intoxicated with pride and neglectful of their duties. They dare to offend even the demigods who have bestowed benedictions upon them.

Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)

Because I am difficult to worship, people generally avoid Me and instead worship other deities, who are quickly satisfied. When people receive kingly opulences from these deities, they become arrogant, intoxicated with pride and neglectful of their duties. They dare to offend even the demigods who have bestowed benedictions upon them. KB 10.88.11 The nondevotees, however, are very careful about preserving their material condition of life. Generally, therefore, such nondevotees do not come to worship the Supreme Personality of Godhead but worship Lord Śiva or other demigods for immediate material profit. In the Bhagavad-gītā it is said, therefore, kāṅkṣantaḥ karmaṇāṁ siddhiṁ yajanta iha devatāḥ: “The karmīs, in order to achieve success within this material world, worship the various demigods.” It is also stated by Lord Kṛṣṇa that those who worship the demigods are not mature in their intelligence. The devotees of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, therefore, because of their strong attachment for Him, do not foolishly go to the demigods. [Note: Paragraph has been shifted by one verse.]

Purport (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)

The lord is difficult to worship because he destroys material happiness. The person, worshipping devatas, is devoid of judgement (pramattah) and proud, offends those who bestow benedictions.

Purport (Jiva Goswami)

The Lord has defined in general terms all truths by showing the result of his mercy. That should be understood in detail. “You give wealth according to the principle of akāmaḥ sarva-kāmo vā (whether having desires or no desires, worship the Lord) but not those whom you really show mercy. Then why does an ordinary person worship anyone else to attain wealth?” This person finds it difficult to worship the Lord because he is unsatisfied with the results attained from the Lord, because of ignorance of the real purpose of worshipping the Lord, even after thinking about it thoroughly. yo gajendraṁ jhaṣa-grastaṁ dhyāyantaṁ caraṇāmbujam krośantīnāṁ kareṇūnāṁ kṛcchrato ’mocayad drutam taṁ sukhārādhyam ṛjubhir ananya-śaraṇair nṛbhiḥ kṛtajñaḥ ko na seveta durārādhyam asādhubhiḥ What grateful person would not worship the Supreme Lord who quickly rescued the king of the elephants from the material world when he was caught by the crocodile while his wives lamented, as he meditated on the lotus feet of the Lord, and who is willingly worshipped by the sincerely surrendered souls while not worshiped by the crooked? SB 3.19.35-36 Or in this verse the Lord shows the cause is the person’s ignorance. The person gives up me, superior to Brahman (brahma param), which is difficult to understand, since impersonal Brahman is only my aṁśa (cinmātram) or is only my śakti with consciousness, and which eternal. He gives up my form of the highest bliss and worships other forms. Worshipping other forms, this person obtains opposite results. These people become proud (mattāḥ), disregarding all rules (uddhātāḥ), having attained wealth and kingdom from devatās who are easily satisfied but have no discriminating power in giving benedictions. They become inattentive (pramattāḥ) and forget those who gave benedictions. Even if they remember, they offend those devatās.

Purport (Sanatana Goswami)

A person who because of losing wealth (ataḥ) gives me up, who can be attained by worship only after a long time or with much effort (sudurārādhyam), worships other persons. This is a reason for giving up the Lord. Because of the worship or after that (tataḥ), those who worship devatās with desire for wealth (te), because of withdrawal of my mercy, attaining wealth by surpassing rules, become proud (mattāḥ) and inattentive (pramattāḥ).