612 Srimad-Bhagavatam [ Canto 3, Ch. 15

hareta—should destroy; sura-helanam—disobeying great demigods; api—
certainly; asesam—unlimited; ma—not; vah—of you; anutapa—repentance;
kalaya—by a little; bhagavat—of the Supreme Personality of Godhead;
smyti-ghnah—destroying the memory of; mohah—illusion; bhavet—should
be; tha—in the foolish species of life; tu—but; nau—of us; vrajatoh—who
are going; adhah adhah—down to the material world.

TRANSLATION

After being cursed by the sages, the doormen said: It is quite apt that
you have punished us for neglecting to respect sages like you. But we
pray that due to your compassion at our repentance, the illusion of for-
getting the Supreme Personality of Godhead will not come upon us as we
go progressively downward.

PURPORT

To a devotee, any heavy punishment is tolerable but the one which
effects forgetfulness of the Supreme Lord. The doormen, who were also
devotees, could understand the punishment meted out to them because
they were conscious of the great offense they had committed by not allow-
ing the sages to enter Vaikunthaloka. In the lowest species of life, includ-
ing the animal species, forgetfulness of the Lord is very prominent. The
doormen were aware that they were going to the criminal department of
the material world, and they expected that they might go to the lowest
species and forget the Supreme Lord. They prayed, therefore, that this
might not happen in the lives which they were going to accept because of
the curse. In Bhagavad-gita, Sixteenth Chapter, verses 19 and 20, it is said
that those who are envious of the Lord and His devotees are thrown into
the species of abominable life; life after life such fools are unable to re-
member the Supreme Personality of Godhead, and therefore they continue
going down and down.

TEXT 37
aq aq WNAatfae<am:
arai fraet aa fasten: |
afay wat saan
HTN TTT ASAT AEA: [1391

evam tadaiva bhagavan aravinda-nabhah
svanam vibudhya sad-atikramam arya-hrdyah

tasmin yayau paramahamsa-maha-muninam
anvesaniya-caranau calayan saha-srth
