Devanagari
सुधिय: साधवो लोके नरदेव नरोत्तमा: ।
नाभिद्रुह्यन्ति भूतेभ्यो यर्हि नात्मा कलेवरम् ॥ ३ ॥
Verse text
sudhiyaḥ sādhavo loke
naradeva narottamāḥ
nābhidruhyanti bhūtebhyo
yarhi nātmā kalevaram
Synonyms
su
—
dhiyaḥ — the most intelligent persons
;
sādhavaḥ
—
who are inclined to perform welfare activities
;
loke
—
in this world
;
nara
—
deva — O King
;
nara
—
uttamāḥ — the best of human beings
;
na abhidruhyanti
—
never become malicious
;
bhūtebhyaḥ
—
toward other living beings
;
yarhi
—
because
;
na
—
never
;
ātmā
—
the self or soul
;
kalevaram
—
this body .
Translation
O King, one who is advanced in intelligence and eager to perform welfare activities for others is considered best amongst human beings. An advanced human being is never malicious to others. Those with advanced intelligence are always conscious that this material body is different from the soul.
Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)
O King! The most intelligent devotees, the best of humans, do not harm other living beings because they know those bodies are not the soul.
This is because (yarhi) the body is not the soul. How is it possible to be violent towards other living entities, since one should not identify them as bodies?
Purport
In daily life we find that when a madman commits murder, he is excused even by a high-court judge. The idea is that a living entity is always pure because he is part and parcel of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. When he falls into the clutches of material energy, he becomes a victim of the three modes of material nature. Indeed, whatever he does, he does under the influence of material nature. As stated in
Bhagavad-gītā
(5.14)
:
na kartṛtvaṁ na karmāṇi
lokasya sṛjati prabhuḥ
na karma-phala-saṁyogaṁ
svabhāvas tu pravartate
“The embodied spirit, master of the city of his body, does not create activities, nor does he induce people to act, nor does he create the fruits of action. All this is enacted by the modes of material nature.”
Actually the living entity, or soul, does not do anything; everything is done under the influence of the modes of material nature. When a man is diseased, the symptoms of the disease become a source of all kinds of pain. Those who are advanced in transcendental consciousness, or Kṛṣṇa consciousness, are never envious, neither of the soul nor of the activities of the soul under the influence of material nature. Advanced transcendentalists are called
sudhiyaḥ.
Sudhī
means “intelligence,”
sudhī
means “highly advanced,” and
sudhī
means “devotee.” One who is both devoted and highly advanced in intelligence does not take action against the soul or the body. If there is any discrepancy, he forgives. It is said that forgiveness is a quality of those who are advancing in spiritual knowledge.