SB 5.26.30 · Srimad-Bhagavatam

Devanagari

अथ च यस्त्विह वा आत्मसम्भावनेन स्वयमधमो जन्मतपोविद्याचारवर्णाश्रमवतो वरीयसो न बहु मन्येत स मृतक एव मृत्वा क्षारकर्दमे निरयेऽवाक्‌शिरा निपातितो दुरन्ता यातना ह्यश्नुते ॥ ३० ॥

Verse text

atha ca yas tv iha vā ātma-sambhāvanena svayam adhamo janma-tapo-vidyācāra-varṇāśramavato varīyaso na bahu manyeta sa mṛtaka eva mṛtvā kṣārakardame niraye ’vāk-śirā nipātito durantā yātanā hy aśnute.

Synonyms

atha — furthermore ; ca — also ; yaḥ — anyone who ; tu — but ; iha — in this life ; vā — or ; ātma — sambhāvanena — by false prestige ; svayam — himself ; adhamaḥ — very degraded ; janma — good birth ; tapaḥ — austerities ; vidyā — knowledge ; ācāra — good behavior ; varṇa — āśrama — vataḥ — in terms of strictly following the principles of varṇāśrama ; varīyasaḥ — of one who is more honorable ; na — not ; bahu — much ; manyeta — respects ; saḥ — he ; mṛtakaḥ — a dead body ; eva — only ; mṛtvā — after dying ; kṣārakardame — named Kṣārakardama ; niraye — in the hell ; avāk — śirā — with his head downward ; nipātitaḥ — thrown ; durantāḥ yātanāḥ — severe painful conditions ; hi — indeed ; aśnute — suffers .

Translation

A lowborn and abominable person who in this life becomes falsely proud, thinking “I am great,” and who thus fails to show proper respect to one more elevated than he by birth, austerity, education, behavior, caste or spiritual order, is like a dead man even in this lifetime, and after death he is thrown headfirst into the hell known as Kṣārakardama. There he must suffer great tribulation at the hands of the agents of Yamarāja.

Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)

A lowborn person who, in this life, because of false ego, fails to show respect to a person more elevated by birth, austerity, education, behavior, caste or spiritual order, is like a dead man even in this lifetime, and after death he is thrown headfirst into the hell known as Kṣārakardama (pool of mud) and suffers. Ātma-sambhāvanena means “by false ego.”

Purport

One should not become falsely proud. One must be respectful toward a person more elevated than he by birth, education, behavior, caste or spiritual order. If one does not show respect to such highly elevated persons but indulges in false pride, he receives punishment in Kṣārakardama.