अहो अस्य नृशंसस्य श्रियोन्मत्तस्य पश्यत ।
धर्मव्यतिक्रमं विष्णोरभक्तस्येशमानिनः ॥४४॥

aho asya ná¹›-Å›aá¹sasya
śriyonmattasya paśyata
dharma-vyatikramaṠviṣṇor
abhaktasyeÅ›a-mÄninaḥ

 aho - alas; asya - of this man; ná¹›-Å›aá¹sasya - who is so cruel; Å›riyÄ unmattasya - puffed up because of great opulence; paÅ›yata - everyone just see; dharma-vyatikramam - the transgression of the regulative principles of religion; viṣṇoḥ abhaktasya - who is not a devotee of Lord Viṣṇu; Ä«Å›a-mÄninaḥ - considering himself the Supreme Lord, independent of everything.


Text

Alas, just see the behavior of this cruel man! He is not a devotee of Lord Viṣṇu. Being proud of his material opulence and his position, he considers himself God. Just see how he has transgressed the laws of religion.

Purport

ÅšrÄ«la ViÅ›vanÄtha CakravartÄ« ṬhÄkura has diverted the entire meaning of this verse as spoken by DurvÄsÄ Muni. DurvÄsÄ Muni used the word ná¹›-Å›aá¹sasya to indicate that the King was cruel, but ViÅ›vanÄtha CakravartÄ« ṬhÄkura interprets it to mean that the King’s character was glorified by all the local people. He says that the word ná¹› means “by all the local people†and that Å›aá¹sasya means “of he (Ambarīṣa) whose character was glorified.†Similarly, one who is very rich becomes mad because of his wealth and is therefore called Å›riyÄ-unmattasya, but ÅšrÄ«la ViÅ›vanÄtha CakravartÄ« ṬhÄkura interprets these words to mean that although MahÄrÄja Ambarīṣa was such an opulent king, he was not mad after money, for he had already surpassed the madness of material opulence. Similarly, the word īśa-mÄninaḥ is interpreted to mean that he was so respectful to the Supreme Personality of Godhead that he did not transgress the laws for observing EkÄdaśī-pÄraṇa, despite the thinking of DurvÄsÄ Muni, for he only took water. In this way, ÅšrÄ«la ViÅ›vanÄtha CakravartÄ« ṬhÄkura has supported Ambarīṣa MahÄrÄja and all his activities.