Devanagari
मा जातु तेज: प्रभवेन्महर्द्धिभि-
स्तितिक्षया तपसा विद्यया च ।
देदीप्यमानेऽजितदेवतानां
कुले स्वयं राजकुलाद् द्विजानाम् ॥ ३७ ॥
Verse text
mā jātu tejaḥ prabhaven maharddhibhis
titikṣayā tapasā vidyayā ca
dedīpyamāne ’jita-devatānāṁ
kule svayaṁ rāja-kulād dvijānām
Synonyms
mā
—
never do it
;
jātu
—
at any time
;
tejaḥ
—
supreme power
;
prabhavet
—
exhibit
;
mahā
—
great
;
ṛddhibhiḥ
—
by opulence
;
titikṣayā
—
by tolerance
;
tapasā
—
penance
;
vidyayā
—
by education
;
ca
—
also
;
dedīpyamāne
—
upon those who are already glorified
;
ajita
—
devatānām — Vaiṣṇavas, or the devotees of the Supreme Personality of Godhead
;
kule
—
in the society
;
svayam
—
personally
;
rāja
—
kulāt — greater than the royal family
;
dvijānām
—
of the brāhmaṇas. .
Translation
The brāhmaṇas and Vaiṣṇavas are personally glorified by their characteristic powers of tolerance, penance, knowledge and education. By dint of all these spiritual assets, Vaiṣṇavas are more powerful than royalty. It is therefore advised that the princely order not exhibit its material prowess before these two communities and should avoid offending them.
Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)
Because of being in a royal family, because of great wealth, one should not exert power over the Vaiṣṇavas and brāhmaṇas who are shining with tolerance, austerity and knowledge.
In order to firmly establish bhakti, Pṛthu now forbids neglecting the Vaiṣṇavas and brāhmaṇas. One should not exert (prabhavet) his powers as a king, because of his great wealth, over the families of Vaiṣṇavas (ajita-devatānām) and brāhmaṇas, who are shining spontaneously with good qualities like tolerance—but who do not have great wealth and power.
Purport
Pṛthu Mahārāja has explained in the previous verse the importance of devotional service for both the rulers and the citizens of the state. Now he explains how one can be steadily fixed in devotional service. Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu, while instructing Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī, has compared the devotional service of the Lord with a creeper. A creeper has a feeble stem and requires the support of a tree to grow, and while growing it requires sufficient protection so that it may not be lost. While describing the system of protection for the creeper of devotional service, Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu has especially stressed protection from offenses unto the lotus feet of Vaiṣṇavas. Such offenses are called
vaiṣṇava-aparādha.
Aparādha
means “offense.” If one commits
vaiṣṇava-aparādhas,
all of his progress in devotional service will be checked. Even though one is very much advanced in devotional service, if he commits offenses at the feet of a Vaiṣṇava, his advancement is all spoiled. In the
śāstras
it is found that a very great
yogī,
Durvāsā Muni, committed a
vaiṣṇava-aparādha
and thus for one full year had to travel all over the universe, even to Vaikuṇṭhaloka, to defend himself from the offense. At last, even when he approached the Supreme Personality of Godhead in Vaikuṇṭha, he was refused protection. Therefore one should be very careful about committing offenses at the feet of a Vaiṣṇava. The most grievous type of
vaiṣṇava-aparādha
is called
gurv-aparādha,
which refers to offenses at the lotus feet of the spiritual master. In the chanting of the holy name of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, this
gurv-aparādha
is considered the most grievous offense.
Guror avajṣā śruti-śāstra-nindanam
(
Padma Purāṇa
). Among the ten offenses committed against the chanting of the holy name, the first offenses are disobedience of the spiritual master and blasphemy of the Vedic literature.
The simple definition of
Vaiṣṇava
is given by Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu: a person who immediately reminds one of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Kṛṣṇa, is a Vaiṣṇava. In this verse, both Vaiṣṇavas and
brāhmaṇas
are mentioned. A Vaiṣṇava is a learned
brāhmaṇa
and is therefore designated as
brāhmaṇa-vaiṣṇava, brāhmaṇa-paṇḍita
or as a Vaiṣṇava and
brāhmaṇa.
In other words, a Vaiṣṇava is supposed to be a
brāhmaṇa
already, but a
brāhmaṇa
may not be a pure Vaiṣṇava. When a person understands his pure identity,
brahma-jānāti,
he immediately becomes a
brāhmaṇa.
In the
brāhmaṇa
stage, one’s understanding of the Absolute Truth is mainly based on the impersonal view. When a
brāhmaṇa,
however, rises to the platform of personal understanding of the Supreme Godhead, he becomes a Vaiṣṇava. A Vaiṣṇava is transcendental even to a
brāhmaṇa.
In the material conception, the position of a
brāhmaṇa
is the highest in human society, but a Vaiṣṇava is transcendental even to a
brāhmaṇa.
Both the
brāhmaṇa
and Vaiṣṇava are spiritually advanced. A
brāhmaṇa’s
qualifications are mentioned in
Bhagavad-gītā
as truthfulness, mental equanimity, control of the senses, the power of tolerance, simplicity, knowledge of the Absolute Truth, firm faith in the scriptures, and practical application of the brahminical qualities in life. In addition to all these qualifications, when one fully engages in the transcendental loving service of the Lord, he becomes a Vaiṣṇava. Pṛthu Mahārāja warns his citizens who are actually engaged in the devotional service of the Lord to take care against offenses to the
brāhmaṇas
and Vaiṣṇavas. Offenses at their lotus feet are so destructive that even the descendants of Yadu who were born in the family of Lord Kṛṣṇa were destroyed due to offenses at their feet. The Supreme Personality of Godhead cannot tolerate any offense at the lotus feet of
brāhmaṇas
and Vaiṣṇavas. Sometimes, due to their powerful positions, princes or government servants neglect the position of
brāhmaṇas
and Vaiṣṇavas, not knowing that because of their offense they will be ruined.