706
Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam
[Canto 3, Ch. 18]
atheistic descriptions. In this case, although the Lord felt sorrow from the piercing words of the demon, He delivered the earth for the satisfaction of the demigods, who are ever His devotees. The conclusion is that God is as sentient as we are. He is satisfied by our prayers and dissatisfied by our harsh words against Him. In order to give protection to His devotee, He is always ready to tolerate insulting words from the atheists.
TEXT 7
तं निःसरन्तं सतिलादनुद्धुतो हिरण्यकेशो द्विरदं यथा क्षपः । करालदंष्ट्रोऽशनिनिस्वनोऽब्रवीद् गतद्दियां किं त्वसतां विगर्हितम् ॥ ७ ॥
tam niḥsarantam salilād anudruto hiraṇya-keśo dviradam yathā jhaṣaḥ karāla-damṣṭro 'śani-nisvano 'bravīd gata-hriyām kim tv asatām vigarhitam
tam—Him; niḥsarantam—coming out; salilāt—from the water; anudrutaḥ—chased; hiraṇya-keśaḥ—having golden hair; dviradam—an elephant; yathā—as; jhaṣaḥ—a crocodile; karāla-damṣṭraḥ—having fearful teeth; aśani-nisvanaḥ—roaring like thunder; abravīt—he said; gata-hriyām—for those who are shameless; kim—what; tv—indeed; asatām—for the wretches; vigarhitam—reproachable.
TRANSLATION
The demon, who had golden hair on his head and fearful tusks, gave chase to the Lord while He was rising from the water, even as an alligator would chase an elephant. Roaring like thunder, he said: Are You not ashamed of running away before a challenging adversary? There is nothing reproachable for shameless creatures!
PURPORT
When the Lord was coming out of the water, taking the earth in His arms to deliver it, the demon derided Him with insulting words, but the Lord did not care because He was very conscious of His duty. For a dutiful man there is nothing to fear. Similarly, those who are powerful have no