186 Srimad-Bhagavatam [Canto 10, Ch. 10

by a dog, and then when he became a dog, he was harassed by a tiger. But
when he became a tiger, he stared at the saintly person, and when the
saintly person asked him, “‘What do you want?” the tiger said, “‘I want to
eat you.” Then the saintly person cursed him, saying, “May you again
become a mouse.” A similar thing is going on all over the universe. One
is going up and down, sometimes becoming a mouse, sometimes a tiger,
and so on. Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu said:

brahmanda bhramite kona bhagyavan jiva
guru-krsna-prasdde paya bhakti-lata-bija
(Ce. Madhya 19.151)

The living entities are promoted and degraded by the laws of nature, but
if one is very, very fortunate, by association with saintly persons he gets
the seed of devotional service, and his life becomes successful. Narada
Muni wanted to bring Nalakavara and Manigriva to the platform of de-
votional service through poverty, and thus he cursed them. Such is the
mercy of a Vaisnava. Unless one is brought to the Vaisnava platform, one
cannot be a good man. Hardv abhaktasya kuto mahad-gunah
(Bhag. 5.18.12). An avaisnava never becomes a good man, however
severely he is punished.

TEXT 14
TA WERASIA Teal Hea A ATT |
Haars wat Bea aa: 2M

yatha kantaka-viddhango
Jantor necchati tam vyatham
Jiva-samyam gato lingair

na tathaviddha-kantakah

yatha—just as; kantaka-viddha-angah—a person whose body has
been pinpricked; jantoh—of such an animal; na—not; icchati—desires;
tam—a particular; vyathdm—pain; jiva-simyam gatah—when he
understands that the position is the same for everyone; lirigaih—by
