358 Srimad-Bhagavatam [Canto 5, Ch. 10

from the piercing trident of Lord Siva; na—nor; yamasya—of the
superintendent of death, Yamaraja; dandét—from the punishment;
na—nor; agni—of fire; arka—of the scorching heat of the sun; soma—
of the moon; anila—of the wind; vitta-pa—of the owner of riches,
Kuvera, the treasurer of the heavenly planets; astrat—from the weap-
ons; Sanke—I am afraid; bhrsam—very much; brahma-kula—the
group of the brahmanas; avamanat—from offending.

TRANSLATION -

My dear sir, I am not at all afraid of the thunderbolt of King In-
dra, nor am I afraid of the serpentine, piercing trident of Lord
Siva. I do not care about the punishment of Yamaraja, the superin-
tendent of death, nor am I afraid of fire, scorching sun, moon,
wind, nor the weapons of Kuvera. Yet I am afraid of offending a
brahmana. I am very much afraid of this.

PURPORT

When Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu was instructing Rapa Gosvami at the
Dasasvamedha-ghata in Prayaga, He pointed out very clearly the serious-
ness of offending a Vaisnava. He compared the vaisnava-apardadha to
hati mata, a mad elephant. When a mad elephant enters a garden, it
spoils all the fruits and flowers. Similarly, if one offends a Vaisnava, he
spoils all his spiritual assets. Offending a brahmana is very dangerous,
and this was known to Maharaja Rahigana. He therefore frankly admit-
ted his fault. There are many dangerous things—thunderbolts, fire,
Yamaraja’s punishment, the punishment of Lord Siva’s trident, and so
forth—but none is considered as serious as offending a brahmana like
Jada Bharata. Therefore Maharaja Rahigana immediately descended
from his palanquin and fell flat before the lotus feet of the brahmana
Jada Bharata just to be excused.

TEXT 18

qa ATR waTafaye-
faratat = faerie: |
