Devanagari
न ते शयानस्य निरुद्यमस्य
ब्रह्मन्नु हार्थो यत एव भोग: ।
अभोगिनोऽयं तव विप्र देह:
पीवा यतस्तद्वद न: क्षमं चेत् ॥ १८ ॥
Verse text
na te śayānasya nirudyamasya
brahman nu hārtho yata eva bhogaḥ
abhogino ’yaṁ tava vipra dehaḥ
pīvā yatas tad vada naḥ kṣamaṁ cet
Synonyms
na
—
not
;
te
—
of you
;
śayānasya
—
lying down
;
nirudyamasya
—
without activities
;
brahman
—
O saintly person
;
nu
—
indeed
;
ha
—
it is evident
;
arthaḥ
—
money
;
yataḥ
—
from which
;
eva
—
indeed
;
bhogaḥ
—
sense enjoyment
;
abhoginaḥ
—
of one who is not engaged in sense enjoyment
;
ayam
—
this
;
tava
—
your
;
vipra
—
O learned brāhmaṇa
;
dehaḥ
—
body
;
pīvā
—
fat
;
yataḥ
—
how is it
;
tat
—
that fact
;
vada
—
kindly tell
;
naḥ
—
us
;
kṣamam
—
excuse
;
cet
—
if I have asked an impudent question .
Translation
O brāhmaṇa, fully in knowledge of transcendence, you have nothing to do, and therefore you are lying down. It is also understood that you have no money for sense enjoyment. How then has your body become so fat? Under the circumstances, if you do not consider my question impudent, kindly explain how this has happened.
Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)
O brāhmaṇa! Since you are lying down, doing nothing, you certainly have no money and thus clearly have no enjoyment. Since you have fat body, but do not enjoy, kindly explain how you are fat, if we are fit to hear.
“You are just guessing that I must be endeavoring, based on the logic that if fat Devadatta does not eat in the day, he must eat at night.” Nu means certainly. Ha means “it is clear.” By his effulgence Prahlāda understood that he was a brāhmaṇa.
Purport
Generally those engaged in spiritual advancement take food only once, either in the afternoon or in the evening. If one takes food only once, naturally he does not become fat. The learned sage, however, was quite fat, and therefore Prahlāda Mahārāja was very much surprised. Because of being experienced in self-realization, a transcendentalist certainly becomes bright-faced. And one who is advanced in self-realization must be considered to possess the body of a
brāhmaṇa.
Because the bright-faced saintly person was lying down and not working and yet was quite fat, Prahlāda Mahārāja was puzzled and wanted to question him about this.