Devanagari
श्रूयतां ब्रह्मर्षयो मे सहदेवा: सहाग्नय: ।
साधूनां ब्रुवतो वृत्तं नाज्ञानान्न च मत्सरात् ॥ ९ ॥
Verse text
śrūyatāṁ brahmarṣayo me
saha-devāḥ sahāgnayaḥ
sādhūnāṁ bruvato vṛttaṁ
nājṣānān na ca matsarāt
Synonyms
śrūyatām
—
hear
;
brahma
—
ṛṣayaḥ — O sages among the brāhmaṇas
;
me
—
unto me
;
saha
—
devāḥ — O demigods
;
saha
—
agnayaḥ — O fire-gods
;
sādhūnām
—
of the gentle
;
bruvataḥ
—
speaking
;
vṛttam
—
the manners
;
na
—
not
;
ajṣānāt
—
from ignorance
;
na ca
—
and not
;
matsarāt
—
from envy .
Translation
All sages, brāhmaṇas and fire-gods present, please hear me with attention, for I speak about the manners of gentle persons. I do not speak out of ignorance or envy.
Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)
O brahmarṣis, devatās and fire-gods! Hear the words I speak about the conduct of the gentle. I do not speak out of ignorance or hatred.
Please hear my words (not written but understood), as I speak about the conduct of the well bred (vṛttam). I will criticize the bad mannered, but do not become unhappy without first reflecting. The well mannered will suffering if they tolerate the ill mannered, like not weeding the grain field. If one shows no hatred, such persons will commit offence against the well mannered. “You speak like this because of ignorance of the good nature of Śiva.” No, I do not speak out of ignorance. And I have not known hatred from birth.
Purport
In speaking against Lord Śiva, Dakṣa tried to pacify the assembly by presenting in a very tactful way that he was going to speak about the manners of gentle persons, although naturally this might affect some unmannerly upstarts and the assembly might be unhappy because they did not want even unmannerly persons to be offended. In other words, he was in complete knowledge that he was speaking against Lord Śiva in spite of Śiva’s spotless character. As far as envy is concerned, from the very beginning he was envious of Lord Śiva; therefore he could not distinguish his own particular envy. Although he spoke like a man in ignorance, he wanted to cover his statements by saying that he was not speaking for impudent and envious reasons.