1240 Srimad-Bhagavatam [Canto 4, Ch. 26

the enemy of Mura (Krsna); itaratra—on the other hand; dasat—than the
servant.

TRANSLATION

O hero’s wife, kindly tell me if someone has offended you. I am pre-
pared to give such a person punishment as long as he does not belong to
the brahmana caste. But for the servant of Muraripu [Krsna], I excuse no
one within or beyond these three worlds. No one can freely move after
offending you, for I am prepared to punish him.

PURPORT

According to Vedic civilization, a brahmana, or one who is properly
qualified to understand the Absolute Truth—that is, one belonging to the
most intelligent social order—as well as the devotee of Lord Krsna, who is
known as Muradvisa, enemy of a demon named Mura, is not subject to the
rules and regulations of the state. In other words, upon breaking the laws
of the state, everyone can be punished by the government except the
brahmanas and Vaisnavas. Brahmanas and Vaisnavas never transgress the
laws of the state or the laws of nature because they know perfectly well
the resultant reactions caused by such law-breaking. Even though they may
sometimes appear to violate the laws, they are not to be punished by the
king. This instruction was given to King Pracinabarhisat by Narada Muni.
King Purafijana was a representative of King Pracinabarhisat, and Narada
Muni was reminding King Pracinabarhisat of his forefather, Maharaja
Prthu, who never chastised a brahmana or a Vaisnava.

One’s pure intelligence, or pure Krsna consciousness, becomes polluted
by material activities. Pure consciousness can again be revived by the
process of sacrifice, charity, pious activities, etc., but when one pollutes
his Krsna consciousness by offending a brahmana or a Vaisnava, it is very
difficult to revive. Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu has described the vaisnava-
aparddha, or offense to a Vaisnava, as “‘the mad elephant offense.” One
should be very careful not to offend a Vaisnava or a brahmana. Even the
great yogi Durvasa was harassed by the Sudargana cakra when he offended
the Vaisnava Maharaja Ambarisa, who was neither a brahmana nor a sannyasi
but an ordinary householder. Maharaja Ambarisa was a Vaisnava, and con-
sequently Durvasa Muni was chastised.

The conclusion is that if Krsna consciousness is covered by material
sins, one can eliminate the sins simply by chanting the Hare Krsna mantra,
but if one pollutes his Krsna consciousness by offending a brahmana or a
Vaisnava, one cannot revive it until one properly atones for the sin by
