Devanagari
मघवन् द्विषत: पश्य प्रक्षीणान् गुर्वतिक्रमात् ।
सम्प्रत्युपचितान् भूय: काव्यमाराध्य भक्तित: ।
आददीरन्निलयनं ममापि भृगुदेवता: ॥ २३ ॥
Verse text
maghavan dviṣataḥ paśya
prakṣīṇān gurv-atikramāt
sampraty upacitān bhūyaḥ
kāvyam ārādhya bhaktitaḥ
ādadīran nilayanaṁ
mamāpi bhṛgu-devatāḥ
Synonyms
maghavan
—
O Indra
;
dviṣataḥ
—
your enemies
;
paśya
—
just see
;
prakṣīṇān
—
being very weak (formerly)
;
guru
—
atikramāt — because of disrespecting their guru, Śukrācārya
;
samprati
—
at the present moment
;
upacitān
—
powerful
;
bhūyaḥ
—
again
;
kāvyam
—
their spiritual master, Śukrācārya
;
ārādhya
—
worshiping
;
bhaktitaḥ
—
with great devotion
;
ādadīran
—
may take away
;
nilayanam
—
the abode, Satyaloka
;
mama
—
my
;
api
—
even
;
bhṛgu
—
devatāḥ — who are now strong devotees of Śukrācārya, the disciple of Bhṛgu .
Translation
O Indra, your enemies, the demons, were extremely weak because of their disrespect toward Śukrācārya, but since they have now worshiped Śukrācārya with great devotion, they have again become powerful. By their devotion to Śukrācārya, they have increased their strength so much that now they are even able to easily seize my abode from me.
Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)
O Indra! Look! These enemies who were weak because of offense to guru have now become strong. Worshiping Śukrācārya with devotion, being devotees to guru, they may take away my abode also.
Disrespect to guru is a cause of disaster and respect to guru is a cause of good fortune. An example of the demons is given. They have so much strength that they can take away my abode also, because they have devotion to guru (bhṛgu-devatāḥ).
Purport
Lord Brahmā wanted to point out to the demigods that by the strength of the
guru
one can become most powerful within this world, and by the displeasure of the
guru
one can lose everything. This is confirmed by the song of Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura:
yasya prasādād bhagavat-prasādo
yasyāprasādān na gatiḥ kuto ’pi
“By the mercy of the spiritual master one is benedicted by the mercy of Kṛṣṇa. Without the grace of the spiritual master, one cannot make any advancement.” Although the demons are insignificant in comparison to Lord Brahmā, because of the strength of their
guru
they were so powerful that they could even seize Brahmaloka from Lord Brahmā. We therefore pray to the spiritual master:
mūkaṁ karoti vācālaṁ
paṅguṁ laṅghayate girim
yat-kṛpā tam ahaṁ vande
śrī-guruṁ dīna-tāraṇam
(Madhya 17.80)
By the mercy of the
guru,
even a dumb man can become the greatest orator, and even a lame man can cross mountains. As advised by Lord Brahmā, one should remember this śāstric injunction if one desires success in his life.