Äyuḥ Å›riyaá¹ yaÅ›o dharmaá¹
lokÄn ÄÅ›iá¹£a eva ca
hanti Å›reyÄá¹si sarvÄṇi
puá¹so mahad-atikramaḥ

 Äyuḥ - duration of life; Å›riyam - opulence; yaÅ›aḥ - reputation; dharmam - religion; lokÄn - possessions; ÄÅ›iá¹£aḥ - benedictions; eva - certainly; ca - and; hanti - destroys; Å›reyÄá¹si - good fortune; sarvÄṇi - all; puá¹saḥ - of a person; mahat - of great souls; atikramaḥ - violation.


Text

“ ‘When a person mistreats great souls, his life span, opulence, reputation, religion, possessions and good fortune are all destroyed.’

Purport

This statement (ÅšrÄ«mad-BhÄgavatam 10.4.46) was made by Åšukadeva GosvÄmÄ« to MahÄrÄja ParÄ«ká¹£it. This quotation concerns the attempted killing of Kṛṣṇa’s sister (YogamÄyÄ), who appeared before Kṛṣṇa’s birth as the daughter of mother YaÅ›odÄ. This daughter YogamÄyÄ and Kṛṣṇa were born simultaneously, and Vasudeva replaced YogamÄyÄ with Kṛṣṇa and took YogamÄyÄ away. When she was brought to MathurÄ and Kaá¹sa attempted to kill her, YogamÄyÄ slipped out of his hands. She could not be killed. She then informed Kaá¹sa about the birth of his enemy, Kṛṣṇa, and being thus baffled, Kaá¹sa consulted his associates, who were all demons. When this big conspiracy was taking place, this verse was spoken by Åšukadeva GosvÄmÄ«. He points out that a demon can lose everything because of his nefarious activities.

The word mahad-atikrama, meaning “envy of Lord Viṣṇu and His devotees,†is significant in this verse. The word mahat indicates a great personality, a devotee or the Supreme Personality of Godhead Himself. Being always engaged in the Lord’s service, the devotees themselves are as great as the Supreme Personality of Godhead. The word mahat is also explained by Lord Kṛṣṇa in the Bhagavad-gÄ«tÄ (9.13):

mahÄtmÄnas tu mÄá¹ pÄrtha daivÄ«á¹ praká¹›tim ÄÅ›ritÄḥ
bhajanty ananya-manaso jñÄtvÄ bhÅ«tÄdim avyayam

“O son of Pá¹›thÄ, those who are not deluded, the great souls, are under the protection of the divine nature. They are fully engaged in devotional service because they know Me as the Supreme Personality of Godhead, original and inexhaustible.â€

Being envious of the Lord and His devotees is not at all auspicious for a demon. By such envy, a demon loses everything considered beneficial.