रयं दुरात्माकृतबुद्धिरद्य ।
विप्रावमन्ता विशतां तमिस्रं
यथा गजः स्तब्धमतिः स एव ॥१०॥
tasmÄ imaá¹ Å›Äpam adÄd asÄdhur
ayaá¹ durÄtmÄká¹›ta-buddhir adya
viprÄvamantÄ viÅ›atÄá¹ tamisraá¹
yathÄ gajaḥ stabdha-matiḥ sa eva
tasmai - unto MahÄrÄja Indradyumna; imam - this; Å›Äpam - curse; adÄt - he gave; asÄdhuḥ - not at all gentle; ayam - this; durÄtmÄ - degraded soul; aká¹›ta - without education; buddhiḥ - his intelligence; adya - now; vipra - of a brÄhmaṇa; avamantÄ - insulter; viÅ›atÄm - let him enter; tamisram - darkness; yathÄ - as; gajaḥ - an elephant; stabdha-matiḥ - possessing blunt intelligence; saḥ - he; eva - indeed.
Agastya Muni then spoke this curse against the King: This King Indradyumna is not at all gentle. Being low and uneducated, he has insulted a brÄhmaṇa. May he therefore enter the region of darkness and receive the dull, dumb body of an elephant.
An elephant is very strong, it has a very big body, and it can work very hard and eat a large quantity of food, but its intelligence is not at all commensurate with its size and strength. Thus in spite of so much bodily strength, the elephant works as a menial servant for a human being. Agastya Muni thought it wise to curse the King to become an elephant because the powerful King did not receive Agastya Muni as one is obliged to receive a brÄhmaṇa. Yet although Agastya Muni cursed MahÄrÄja Indradyumna to become an elephant, the curse was indirectly a benediction, for by undergoing one life as an elephant, Indradyumna MahÄrÄja ended the reactions for all the sins of his previous life. Immediately after the expiry of the elephant’s life, he was promoted to Vaikuṇá¹haloka to become a personal associate of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, NÄrÄyaṇa, in a body exactly like that of the Lord. This is called sÄrÅ«pya-mukti.
