Devanagari
मैनं मायाविनं दृप्तं निरङ्कुशमसत्तमम् ।
आक्रीड बालवद्देव यथाशीविषमुत्थितम् ॥ २४ ॥
Verse text
mainaṁ māyāvinaṁ dṛptaṁ
niraṅkuśam asattamam
ākrīḍa bālavad deva
yathāśīviṣam utthitam
Synonyms
mā
—
do not
;
enam
—
him
;
māyā
—
vinam — skilled in conjuring tricks
;
dṛptam
—
arrogant
;
niraṅkuśam
—
self-sufficient
;
asat
—
tamam — most wicked
;
ākrīḍa
—
play with
;
bāla
—
vat — like a child
;
deva
—
O Lord
;
yathā
—
as
;
āśīviṣam
—
a serpent
;
utthitam
—
aroused .
Translation
Lord Brahmā continued: My dear Lord, there is no need to play with this serpentine demon, who is always very skilled in conjuring tricks and is arrogant, self-sufficient and most wicked.
Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)
O Lord! Do not play like a child with this demon, expert at magic, proud, uncontrollable, and wicked, just as Garuḍa plays with a snake raising his hoods in anger.
Do not play with him like an ignorant person (bāla-vat). You are actually the crown jewel of knowledge. You are just like (yat) Garuḍa playing with an enraged snake. Or do not play with him, since I consider him an enraged snake.
Purport
No one is unhappy when a serpent is killed. It is a practice among village boys to catch a serpent by the tail and play with it for some time and then kill it. Similarly, the Lord could have killed the demon at once, but He played with him in the same way as a child plays with a snake before killing it. Brahmā requested, however, that since the demon was more wicked and undesirable than a serpent, there was no need to play with him. It was his wish that he be killed at once, without delay.