Devanagari
तदभिप्रेत्य भगवान् कर्मातिशयमात्मन: ।
शतक्रतुर्न ममृषे पृथोर्यज्ञमहोत्सवम् ॥ २ ॥
Verse text
tad abhipretya bhagavān
karmātiśayam ātmanaḥ
śata-kratur na mamṛṣe
pṛthor yajṣa-mahotsavam
Synonyms
tat abhipretya
—
considering this matter
;
bhagavān
—
the most powerful
;
karma
—
atiśayam — excelling in fruitive activities
;
ātmanaḥ
—
of himself
;
śata
—
kratuḥ — King Indra, who had performed a hundred sacrifices
;
na
—
not
;
mamṛṣe
—
did tolerate
;
pṛthoḥ
—
of King Pṛthu
;
yajṣa
—
sacrificial
;
mahā
—
utsavam — great ceremonies .
Translation
When the most powerful Indra, the King of heaven, saw this, he considered the fact that King Pṛthu was going to exceed him in fruitive activities. Thus Indra could not tolerate the great sacrificial ceremonies performed by King Pṛthu.
Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)
Thinking that Pṛthu would excel him, Indra could not tolerate the great sacrifice of Pṛthu.
Ātmanaḥ means “more than him.”
Purport
In the material world everyone who comes to enjoy himself or lord it over material nature is envious of others. This envy is also found in the personality of the King of heaven, Indra. As evident from revealed scriptures, Indra was several times envious of many persons. He was especially envious of great fruitive activities and the execution of
yoga
practices, or
siddhis.
Indeed, he could not tolerate them, and he desired to break them up. He was envious due to fear that those who performed great sacrifices for the execution of mystic
yoga
might occupy his seat. Since no one in this material world can tolerate another’s advancement, everyone in the material world is called
matsara,
envious. In the beginning of
Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam
it is therefore said that
Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam
is meant for those who are completely
nirmatsara
(nonenvious). In other words, one who is not free from the contamination of envy cannot advance in Kṛṣṇa consciousness. In Kṛṣṇa consciousness, however, if someone excels another person, the devotee who is excelled thinks how fortunate the other person is to be advancing in devotional service. Such nonenvy is typical of Vaikuṇṭha. However, when one is envious of his competitor, that is material. The demigods posted in the material world are not exempt from envy.