146 Srimad-Bhagavatam [Canto 6, Ch. 3

TEXT 5

WS CII STH AA SIT: |
HAY AAT A TM HA TIPMITAT AT I I

yadi syur bahavo loke
Sdstaro danda-dharinah

kasya syatam na va kasya
mrtyus camrtam eva va

yadi—if; syuh—there are; bahavah—many; loke—in this world;
S$dstarah—rulers or controllers; danda-dharinah—who punish the sin-
ful men; kasya—of whom; sydtam—there may be; na—not; vd—or;
kasya—of whom; mrtyuh—distress or unhappiness; ca—and;
amrtam—happiness; eva—certainly; v@—or.

TRANSLATION

If in this universe there are many rulers and justices who dis-
agree about punishment and reward, their contradictory actions
will neutralize each other, and no one will be punished or
rewarded. Otherwise, if their contradictory acts fail to neutralize
each other, everyone will have to be both punished and rewarded.

PURPORT

Because the Yamaditas had been unsuccessful in carrying out the
order of Yamaraja, they doubted whether Yamardja actually had the
power to punish the sinful. Although they had gone to arrest Ajamila,
following Yamardja’s order, they found themselves unsuccessful because
of the order of some higher authority. Therefore they were unsure of
whether there were many authorities or only one. If there were many au-
thorities who gave different judgments, which could be contradictory, a
person might be wrongly punished or wrongly rewarded, or he might be
neither punished nor rewarded. According to our experience in the ma-
terial world, a person punished in one court may appeal to another. Thus
the same man may be either punished or rewarded according to different
judgments. However, in the law of nature or the court of the Supreme
