Text 11] | Prthu Maharaja’s Meeting with the Four Kumaras 897
TEXT 11
eT t aafrer oan: |
TITTNTERENAR THT: 1188
vyalalaya-druma vai tesv
arik takhila-sampadah
yad-grhas tirtha-padiya-
padatirtha-vivarjitah
vyala—venomous serpents; alaya—home; drumah—tree; vai—certainly;
tesu—in those houses; arikta—abundantly; akhila—all; sampadah—opu-
lences; yat—that ; grhah—houses; tirtha-padiya—in relation with the feet of
great saintly persons; pada-tirtha—the water which washed their feet;
vivarjitah—without.
TRANSLATION
On the contrary, even though full of all opulence and material pros-
perity, any householder’s house where the devotees of the Lord are never
allowed to come in, and where there is no water for washing their feet, is
to be considered as a tree in which all venomous serpents live.
PURPORT
In this verse the word tirtha-padiya indicates devotees of Lord Visnu, or
Vaisnavas. As far as brahmanas are concerned, in the previous verse the
mode of reception has been already described. Now, in this verse, special
stress is being given to the Vaisnavas. Generally the sannyasis, or those in
the renounced order of life, take trouble to enlighten the householders.
There are ekadandi sannyasis and tridandi sannyasis. The ekadandi
sannyasis are generally followers of Sankaracarya and are known as Maya-
vadi sannyasis, whereas the tridandi sannyasis are followers of Vaisnava
acaryas— Ramanujacarya, Madhvacarya and so on—and they take trouble to
enlighten the householders. Ekadandi sannyasis can be situated on the
platform of pure Brahman because they are aware that the spirit soul is
different from the body, but they are mainly impersonalists. The Vaisnavas
know that the Absolute Truth is the Supreme Person and that the Brahman
effulgence is based on the Supreme Personality of Godhead, as confirmed
in the Bhagavad-gita: brahmano hi pratisthaham (Bg. 14.27). The con-
clusion is that tirtha-padiya refers to Vaisnavas. In the Bhagavatam there is
also another reference: tirthikurvanti tirthani. Wherever he goes, a Vaisnava
