सर्वत्र समदृक् शान्तो ह्यहं चैवाच्युतप्रियः ॥३४॥
तस्मान्न विस्मयः कार्यः पुरुषेषु महात्मसु ।
महापुरुषभक्तेषु शान्तेषु समदर्शिषु ॥३५॥
tasya cÄyaá¹ mahÄ-bhÄgaÅ›
citraketuḥ priyo 'nugaḥ
sarvatra sama-dá¹›k Å›Änto
hy ahaá¹ caivÄcyuta-priyaḥ
tasmÄn na vismayaḥ kÄryaḥ
puruá¹£eá¹£u mahÄtmasu
mahÄpuruá¹£a-bhakteá¹£u
Å›Änteá¹£u sama-darÅ›iá¹£u
tasya - of Him (the Lord); ca - and; ayam - this; mahÄ-bhÄgaḥ - the most fortunate; citraketuḥ - King Citraketu; priyaḥ - beloved; anugaḥ - most obedient servant; sarvatra - everywhere; sama-dá¹›k - sees equally; Å›Äntaḥ - very peaceful; hi - indeed; aham - I; ca - also; eva - certainly; acyuta-priyaḥ - very dear to Lord Kṛṣṇa, who never fails; tasmÄt - therefore; na - no; vismayaḥ - wonder; kÄryaḥ - to be done; puruá¹£eá¹£u - among persons; mahÄ-Ätmasu - who are exalted souls; mahÄ-puruá¹£a-bhakteá¹£u - devotees of Lord Viṣṇu; Å›Änteá¹£u - peaceful; sama-darÅ›iá¹£u - equal to everyone.
This magnanimous Citraketu is a dear devotee of the Lord. He is equal to all living entities and is free from attachment and hatred. Similarly, I am also very dear to Lord NÄrÄyaṇa. Therefore, no one should be astonished to see the activities of the most exalted devotees of NÄrÄyaṇa, for they are free from attachment and envy. They are always peaceful, and they are equal to everyone.
It is said, vaiṣṇavera kriyÄ, mudrÄ vijñeha nÄ bujhaya: one should not be astonished to see the activities of exalted, liberated Vaiṣṇavas. As one should not be misled by the activities of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, one should also not be misled by the activities of His devotees. Both the Lord and His devotees are liberated. They are on the same platform, the only difference being that the Lord is the master and the devotees are servants. Qualitatively, they are one and the same. In Bhagavad-gÄ«tÄ (9.29) the Lord says:
samo ’haṠsarva-bhūteṣu
na me dveṣyo ’sti na priyaḥ
ye bhajanti tu mÄá¹ bhaktyÄ
mayi te teá¹£u cÄpy aham
“I envy no one, nor am I partial to anyone. I am equal to all. But whoever renders service unto Me in devotion is a friend, is in Me, and I am also a friend to him.†From this statement by the Supreme Personality of Godhead, it is clear that the devotees of the Lord are always extremely dear to Him. In effect, Lord Åšiva told PÄrvatÄ«, “Both Citraketu and I are always very dear to the Supreme Lord. In other words, both he and I are on the same level as servants of the Lord. We are always friends, and sometimes we enjoy joking words between us. When Citraketu loudly laughed at my behavior, he did so on friendly terms, and therefore there was no reason to curse him.†Thus Lord Åšiva tried to convince his wife, PÄrvatÄ«, that her cursing of Citraketu was not very sensible.
Here is a difference between male and female that exists even in the higher statuses of life — in fact, even between Lord Åšiva and his wife. Lord Åšiva could understand Citraketu very nicely, but PÄrvatÄ« could not. Thus even in the higher statuses of life there is a difference between the understanding of a male and that of a female. It may be clearly said that the understanding of a woman is always inferior to the understanding of a man. In the Western countries there is now agitation to the effect that man and woman should be considered equal, but from this verse it appears that woman is always less intelligent than man.
It is clear that Citraketu wanted to criticize the behavior of his friend Lord Åšiva because Lord Åšiva was sitting with his wife on his lap. Then, too, Lord Åšiva wanted to criticize Citraketu for externally posing as a great devotee but being interested in enjoying with the VidyÄdharÄ« women. These were all friendly jokes; there was nothing serious for which Citraketu should have been cursed by PÄrvatÄ«. Upon hearing the instructions of Lord Åšiva, PÄrvatÄ« must have been very much ashamed for cursing Citraketu to become a demon. Mother PÄrvatÄ« could not appreciate Citraketu’s position, and therefore she cursed him, but when she understood the instructions of Lord Åšiva she was ashamed.
