Text 13] Frustration of the Sacrifice of Daksa 159
PURPORT
In this verse Dakga has been described as mahatma. The word mahatma
has been commented upon by different commentators in various manners.
Viraraghavacarya has indicated that this word mahatma means steady in
heart. That is to say that Daksa was so stronghearted that even when his
beloved daughter was prepared to lay down her life, he was steady and
unshaken. But in spite of his being so stronghearted, he was perturbed
when he saw the various disturbances created by the giganfic black demon.
Vigvanatha Cakravarti Thakur remarks in this connection that even if one
is called mahatma, a great soul, unless he exhibits the symptoms of a
mahatma, he should be considered a duratma, or a degraded soul. In
Bhagavad-gita the word mahatma describes the pure devotee of the Lord:
mahatmanas tu mam partha daivim prakrtim aéritah (Bg. 9.13). A mahatma
is always under the guidance of the internal energy of the Supreme
Personality of Godhead, and thus how could such a misbehaved person as
Daksa be a mahatma? A mahatma is supposed to have all the good
qualities of the demigods, and thus Daksa, lacking those qualities, could
not be called a mahatma; he should instead be called duratma, a degraded
soul. The word mahatma to describe the qualifications of Dakga is used
sarcastically.
TEXT 13
THR BAGG
a a
: frarguianttatraat:
qainaahgaeeTt =| LRN
tavat sa rudranucarair maha-makho
nanayudhair vamanakair udayudhaih
pingaih pisangair makarodarananaih
paryadravadbhir viduranvarudhyata
tavat—very quickly; sah—that; rudra-anucaraih—by the followers of

Lord Siva; maha-makhah—the arena of the great sacrifice; nana—various
kinds; ayudhaih—with weapons; vamanakaih—of short stature; udayudhaih
—upraised; pingaih—blackish; pisangaih— yellowish; makara-udara-ananaih
—with bellies and faces like sharks; paryadravadbhih—running all around;
vidura—O Vidura; anvarudhyata—was surrounded.
