न विस्मरति मेऽनार्यं शुनःशेप इव प्रभुः ॥४६॥
vartamÄno 'vidÅ«re vai
bÄlo 'py ajaá¸a-dhÄ«r ayam
na vismarati me 'nÄryaá¹
śunaḥ śepa iva prabhuḥ
vartamÄnaḥ - being situated; avidÅ«re - not very far away; vai - indeed; bÄlaḥ - a mere child; api - although; ajaá¸a-dhīḥ - complete fearlessness; ayam - this; na - not; vismarati - forgets; me - my; anÄryam - misbehavior; Å›unaḥ Å›epaḥ - the curved tail of a dog; iva - exactly like; prabhuḥ - being able or potent.
Although he is very near to me and is merely a child, he is situated in complete fearlessness. He resembles a dog’s curved tail, which can never be straightened, because he never forgets my misbehavior and his connection with his master, Lord Viṣṇu.
The word Å›unaḥ means “of a dog,†and Å›epa means “tail.†The example is ordinary. However one may try to straighten a dog’s tail, it is never straight but always curved. Åšunaḥ Å›epa is also the name of the second son of AjÄ«garta. He was sold to HariÅ›candra, but he later took shelter of ViÅ›vÄmitra, HariÅ›candra’s enemy, and never left his side.
