Devanagari
तमत्रिर्भगवानैक्षत्त्वरमाणं विहायसा ।
आमुक्तमिव पाखण्डं योऽधर्मे धर्मविभ्रम: ॥ १२ ॥
Verse text
tam atrir bhagavān aikṣat
tvaramāṇaṁ vihāyasā
āmuktam iva pākhaṇḍaṁ
yo ’dharme dharma-vibhramaḥ
Synonyms
tam
—
King Indra
;
atriḥ
—
the sage Atri
;
bhagavān
—
most powerful
;
aikṣat
—
could see
;
tvaramāṇam
—
moving very hastily
;
vihāyasā
—
in outer space
;
āmuktam iva
—
like a liberated person
;
pākhaṇḍam
—
imposter
;
yaḥ
—
one who
;
adharme
—
in irreligion
;
dharma
—
religion
;
vibhramaḥ
—
mistaking .
Translation
When King Indra was taking away the horse, he dressed himself to appear as a liberated person. Actually this dress was a form of cheating, for it falsely created an impression of religion. When Indra went into outer space in this way, the great sage Atri saw him and understood the whole situation.
Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)
Atri saw Indra moving quickly in the sky in the dress of a heretic, who by that disguise made people think adharma to be dharma.
Afraid of being seen, Indra was fleeing away quickly, and wearing (āmuktam) the dress of a heretic like armor. Amara-koṣa says that āmukta means until liberation or dressed.” By him there was an illusion of dharma with what was actually adharma
Purport
The word
pākhaṇḍa
used in this verse is sometimes pronounced
pāṣaṇḍa.
Both of these words indicate an imposter who presents himself as a very religious person but in actuality is sinful. Indra took up the saffron-colored dress as a way of cheating others. This saffron dress has been misused by many imposters who present themselves as liberated persons or incarnations of God. In this way people are cheated. As we have mentioned many times, the conditioned soul has a tendency to cheat; therefore this quality is also visible in a person like King Indra. It is understood that even King Indra is not liberated from the clutches of material contamination. Thus the words
āmuktam iva,
meaning “as if he were liberated,” are used. The saffron dress worn by a
sannyāsī
announces to the world that he has renounced all worldly affairs and is simply engaged in the service of the Lord. Such a devotee is actually a
sannyāsī,
or liberated person. In
Bhagavad-gītā
(6.1)
it is said:
anāśritaḥ karma-phalaṁ
kāryaṁ karma karoti yaḥ
sa sannyāsī ca yogī ca
na niragnir na cākriyaḥ
“One who is unattached to the fruits of his work and who works as he is obligated is in the renounced order of life, and he is the true mystic, not he who lights no fire and performs no work.”
In other words, one who offers the results of his activities to the Supreme Personality of Godhead is actually a
sannyāsī
and
yogī.
Cheating
sannyāsīs
and
yogīs
have existed since the time of Pṛthu Mahārāja’s sacrifice. This cheating was very foolishly introduced by King Indra. In some ages such cheating is very prominent, and in other ages not so prominent. It is the duty of a
sannyāsī
to be very cautious because, as stated by Lord Caitanya,
sannyāsīra alpa chidra sarva-loke gāya:
“A little spot in a
sannyāsī’s
character will be magnified by the public.” (
Cc. Madhya
12.51) Therefore, unless one is very sincere and serious, he should not take up the order of
sannyāsa.
One should not use this order as a means to cheat the public. It is better not to take up
sannyāsa
in this Age of Kali because provocations are very strong in this age. Only a very exalted person advanced in spiritual understanding should attempt to take up
sannyāsa.
One should not adopt this order as a means of livelihood or for some material purpose.