204 Srimad-Bhagavatam [Canto 6, Ch. 17

TEXT 37

eft aa Fa: afraqaaeaa: |
mal A FTE MITA TIMY [121

iti bhagavato devyah
pratisaptum alantamah

miirdhnaé sa jagrhe sa4pam
etavat sddhu-laksanam

iti—thus; bhdgavatah—the most exalted devotee; devyah—of Par-
vati; pratisaptum—to make a counter-curse; alantamah—able in all
respects; miirdhnd—with his head; sah—he (Citraketu); jagrhe—ac-
cepted; sapam—the curse; etavat—this much; sddhu-laksanam—the
symptom of a devotee.

TRANSLATION

The great devotee Citraketu was so powerful that he was quite
competent to curse mother Parvati in retaliation, but instead of
doing so he very humbly accepted the curse and bowed his head
before Lord Siva and his wife. This is very much to be appreciated
as the standard behavior of a Vaisnava.

PURPORT

Upon being informed by Lord Siva, mother Parvati could understand
that she was wrong in cursing Citraketu. King Citraketu was so exalted
in his character that in spite of being wrongly cursed by Parvati, he im-
mediately descended from his airplane and bowed his head before the
mother, accepting her curse. This has already been explained:
narayana-parah sarve na kutascana bibhyati. Citraketu very sportingly
felt that since the mother wanted to curse him, he could accept this curse
just to please her. This is called sédhu-laksanam, the characteristic of a
s@dhu, or a devotee. As explained by Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu, trnéd api
sunicena taror api sahisnund. A devotee should always be very humble
and meek and should offer all respect to others, especially to superiors.
Being protected by the Supreme Personality of Godhead, a devotee is al-
