704 Srimad-Bhagavatam [Canto 3, Ch. 18

tvayi-when You; samsthite—are killed; gadaya—by the mace; sirya—
smashed; sirsani—skull; asmat-bhuja—from my hand; cyutaya—released;
ye—those who; ca—and; tubhyam—to You; balim—presentations; haranti-
offer; rsayah—sages; ye—those who; ca—and; devah—demigods; svayam—
automatically; sarve—all; na—not; bhavisyanti— will exist; amalah—without
roots.

TRANSLATION

The demon continued: When You fall dead with Your skull smashed by
the mace hurled by my arms, the demigods and sages who offer You obla-
tions and sacrifice in devotional service will also automatically cease to
exist, like trees without roots.

PURPORT

Demons are very much disturbed when devotees worship the Lord in
the prescribed ways recommended in the scriptures. In the Vedic scriptures,
the neophyte devotees are advised Lo engage in nine kinds of devotional
service, such as to hear and chant the holy name of God, to remember
Him always, to chant on beads Hare Krsna, Hare Krsna, Krsna Krsna, Hare
Hare/ Hare Rama, Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare, to worship the
Lord in the form of His Deity incarnation in the temples, and lo engage in
various activities of Krsna consciousness to increase the number of godly
persons for perfect peace in the world. Demons do not like such activity.
They are always envious of God and His devotees. Their propaganda not
to worship in the temple or church but simply to make material advance-
ment for satisfaction of the senses is always current. The demon Hiranyaksa,
upon seeing the Lord face to face, wanted to make a permanent solution
by killing the Personality of Godhead with his powerful mace. The example
of an uprooted tree mentioned here by the demon is very significant.
Devotees accept that God is the root of everything. Their example is that
just as the stomach is the source of energy of all the limbs of the body, so
God is the original source of all energy manifested in the material and
spiritual worlds; therefore, as supplying food to the stomach is the process
to satisfy all the limbs of the body, so Krsna consciousness or developing
love of Krsna is the sublime method for satisfying the source of all happi-
ness. The demon wants to uproot this source because if the root, God,
were to be checked, the activities of the Lord and the devotees would
automatically stop. ‘The demon would be very much satisfied by such a
situation in society. Demons are always anxious lo have a godless society
for their sense gratification. According to Sridhara Svamt, this verse means
