SB 5.15.1 · Srimad-Bhagavatam

Devanagari

श्रीशुक उवाच भरतस्यात्मज: सुमतिर्नामाभिहितो यमु ह वाव केचित्पाखण्डिन ऋषभपदवीमनुवर्तमानं चानार्या अवेदसमाम्नातां देवतां स्वमनीषया पापीयस्या कलौ कल्पयिष्यन्ति ॥ १ ॥

Verse text

śrī-śuka uvāca bharatasyātmajaḥ sumatir nāmābhihito yam u ha vāva kecit pākhaṇḍina ṛṣabha-padavīm anuvartamānaṁ cānāryā aveda-samāmnātāṁ devatāṁ sva-manīṣayā pāpīyasyā kalau kalpayiṣyanti.

Synonyms

śrī — śukaḥ uvāca — Śrī Śukadeva Gosvāmī continued to speak ; bharatasya — of Bharata Mahārāja ; ātma — jaḥ — the son ; sumatiḥ nāma — abhihitaḥ — named Sumati ; yam — unto whom ; u ha vāva — indeed ; kecit — some ; pākhaṇḍinaḥ — atheists, men without Vedic knowledge ; ṛṣabha — padavīm — the path of King Ṛṣabhadeva ; anuvartamānam — following ; ca — and ; anāryāḥ — not belonging to the Āryans who strictly follow the Vedic principles ; aveda — samāmnātām — not enumerated in the Vedas ; devatām — to be Lord Buddha or a similar Buddhist deity ; sva — manīṣayā — by their own mental speculation ; pāpīyasyā — most sinful ; kalau — in this Age of Kali ; kalpayiṣyanti — will imagine .

Translation

Śrīla Śukadeva Gosvāmī continued: The son of Mahārāja Bharata known as Sumati followed the path of Ṛṣabhadeva, but in the Age of Kali some unscrupulous people will imagine him to be Lord Buddha himself. These people, who will actually be atheistic and of bad character, will interpret the Vedic principles in an imaginary, infamous way to support their activities. Thus these sinful people will accept Sumati as Lord Buddhadeva and propagate the theory that everyone should follow the principles of Sumati. In this way they will be carried away by mental concoction.

Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)

Śukadeva said: The son of Bharata named Sumati followed the path of Ṛṣabha. Some inferior, sinful heretics will imagine him by their own minds to be Buddha, who is not approved by the Vedas. In the Fifteenth Chapter, the glories of King Gaya and of the last king of Priyavrata’s line, Viraja, are described.

Purport

Those who are Āryans strictly follow the Vedic principles, but in this Age of Kali a community has sprung up known as the Arya Samaj, who members are ignorant of the import of the Vedas in the paramparā system. They decry all bona fide ācāryas and pose themselves as the real followers of the Vedic principles, but in fact such non-Āryans do not follow the Vedic principles. Another group of non-Āryans are the Jains, who are referred to in the present verse. Not only do they not follow the Vedic principles, but they have no relationship with Lord Buddha, though they claim to. Imitating the behavior of Sumati, they also claim to be descendants of Ṛṣabhadeva. Those who are Vaiṣṇavas carefully avoid their company because they are ignorant of the path of the Vedas. In Bhagavad-gītā (15.15) Kṛṣṇa says, vedaiś ca sarvair aham eva vedyaḥ: “The real purpose of the Vedas is to understand Me.” This is the injunction of all Vedic literatures. One who does not know the greatness of Lord Kṛṣṇa cannot be accepted as an Āryan. Lord Buddha, an incarnation of Lord Kṛṣṇa, adopted a particular means to propagate the philosophy of bhāgavata-dharma. He preached almost exclusively among atheists. Atheists do not want any God, and Lord Buddha therefore said that there is no God, but he adopted the means to instruct his followers for their benefit. Therefore he preached in a duplicitous way, saying that there is no God. Nonetheless, he himself was an incarnation of God.