न्न त्र्यक्षशूलान्न यमस्य दण्डात् ।
नाग्न्यर्कसोमानिलवित्तपास्त्रा
च्छङ्के भृशं ब्रह्मकुलावमानात् ॥१७॥
nÄhaá¹ viÅ›aá¹…ke sura-rÄja-vajrÄn
na tryaká¹£a-śūlÄn na yamasya daṇá¸Ät
nÄgny-arka-somÄnila-vittapÄstrÄc
chaá¹…ke bhṛśaá¹ brahma-kulÄvamÄnÄt
na - not; aham - I; viÅ›aá¹…ke - am afraid; sura-rÄja-vajrÄt - from the thunderbolt of the King of heaven, Indra; na - nor; tryaká¹£a-śūlÄt - from the piercing trident of Lord Åšiva; na - nor; yamasya - of the superintendent of death, YamarÄja; daṇá¸Ät - from the punishment; na - nor; agni - of fire; arka - of the scorching heat of the sun; soma - of the moon; anila - of the wind; vitta-pa - of the owner of riches, Kuvera, the treasurer of the heavenly planets; astrÄt - from the weapons; Å›aá¹…ke - I am afraid; bhṛśam - very much; brahma-kula - the group of the brÄhmaṇas; avamÄnÄt - from offending.
My dear sir, I am not at all afraid of the thunderbolt of King Indra, nor am I afraid of the serpentine, piercing trident of Lord Åšiva. I do not care about the punishment of YamarÄja, the superintendent of death, nor am I afraid of fire, scorching sun, moon, wind, nor the weapons of Kuvera. Yet I am afraid of offending a brÄhmaṇa. I am very much afraid of this.
When ÅšrÄ« Caitanya MahÄprabhu was instructing RÅ«pa GosvÄmÄ« at the DaÅ›ÄÅ›vamedha-ghÄá¹a in PrayÄga, He pointed out very clearly the seriousness of offending a Vaiṣṇava. He compared the vaiṣṇava-aparÄdha to hÄtÄ« mÄtÄ, a mad elephant. When a mad elephant enters a garden, it spoils all the fruits and flowers. Similarly, if one offends a Vaiṣṇava, he spoils all his spiritual assets. Offending a brÄhmaṇa is very dangerous, and this was known to MahÄrÄja RahÅ«gaṇa. He therefore frankly admitted his fault. There are many dangerous things — thunderbolts, fire, YamarÄja’s punishment, the punishment of Lord Åšiva’s trident, and so forth — but none is considered as serious as offending a brÄhmaṇa like Jaá¸a Bharata. Therefore MahÄrÄja RahÅ«gaṇa immediately descended from his palanquin and fell flat before the lotus feet of the brÄhmaṇa Jaá¸a Bharata just to be excused.
