122 Srimad-Bhagavatam [Canto 4, Ch. 4
at ReTTETTRTIGh-
feats AeT | ANAT N23
nascaryam etad yad asatsu sarvada
mahad-vininda kunapatma-vadisu
sersyam mahdapiirusa-pada-pamsubhir
nirasta-tejahsu tad eva sobhanam

na—not; ascaryam—wonderful; etat—this; yat— which; asatsu—evil; sar-
vadd—always; mahat-vinindd—the deriding of great souls; kunapa-dtma-
vadisu—among those who have accepted the dead body as the self; sa-
irsyam—envy; mahadpirusa—of great personalities; pada-pamsubhih—by the
dust of the feet; nirasta-tejahsu— whose glory is diminished; tat—that; eva—
certainly; §obhanam—very good.

TRANSLATION

It is not wonderful for persons who have accepted the transient material
body as the self to engage always in deriding great souls. Such envy on the
part of materialistic persons is very good because that is the way they fall
down. They arediminished by the dust of the feet of great personalities.

PURPORT

Everything depends on the strength of the recipient. For example, due
to the scorching sunshine many vegetables and flowers dry up, and many
grow luxuriantly. Thus it is the recipient that causes growth and dwin-
dling. Similarly, mahdpiirusa-pdda-pamsubhif, the dust of the lotus feet
of great personalities, offers all good to the recipient, but the same dust
can also do harm. Those who are offenders at the lotus feet of a great
personality dry up; their godly qualities diminish. A great soul may
forgive offenses, but Krsna does not excuse offenses to the dust of his feet,
just as one can tolerate the scorching sunshine on his head but cannot
tolerate the scorching sunshine on his feet. An offender glides down more
and more; therefore naturally he continues to commit offenses at the feet
of the great soul. Offenses are generally committed by persons who
falsely identify with the impermanent body. King Daksa was deeply
engrossed in misconception because he identified the body with the soul.
He offended the lotus feet of Lord Siva because he thought that his body,
being the father of the body of Sati, was superior to Lord Siva’s. General-
ly, less intelligent men misidentify in that way, and they act on the bodily
concept of life. Thus they are subject to commit more and more offenses
