tapo-vidyā-vrata-dharān
jñāna-vidhvasta-kalmaṣān
paramaṛṣīn brahma-niṣṭhān
loka-pālaiś ca pūjitān
sadas-patīn atikramya
gopālaḥ kula-pāḿsanaḥ
yathā kākaḥ puroḍāśaḿ
saparyāḿ katham arhati
tapah -- austerity; vidya -- Vedic knowledge; vrata -- severe vows; dharan -- who maintain; jnana -- by spiritual understanding; vidhvasta -- eradicated; kalmashan -- whose impurities; parama -- topmost; rishin -- sages; brahma -- to the Absolute Truth; nishthan -- dedicated; loka-palaih -- by the rulers of the planetary systems; ca -- and; pujitan -- worshiped; sadah-patin -- leaders of the assembly; atikramya -- passing over; gopalah -- a cowherd; kula -- of His family; pamsanah -- the disgrace; yatha -- as; kakah -- a crow; purodasam -- the sacred rice cake (offered to the demigods); saparyam -- worship; katham -- how; arhati -- deserves.
The great commentator Sridhara Svami has analyzed Sisupala's words as follows. The term go-pala means not only "cowherd" but also "protector of the Vedas and the earth." Similarly, kula-pamsana has a double meaning. Sisupala intended it to mean "the disgrace of His family," which is its meaning when divided as above. But the word may also be analyzed as ku-lapam amsana, giving a totally different meaning. Kulapam indicates those who prattle with crooked words contrary to the Vedas, and amsana, derived from the verb amsayati, means "destroyer." In other words, he was praising Lord Krishna as "He who vanquishes all misguided and frivolous speculations about the nature of truth." Similarly, although Sisupala wanted to compare Lord Krishna to a crow with the words yatha kakah, these words may also be divided yatha a-kakah. In that case, according to Srila Sridhara Svami, the word kaka is a combination of ka and aka, which indicate material happiness and misery. Thus Lord Krishna is akaka in the sense that He is beyond all material misery and happiness, being on the pure, transcendental platform. Finally, Sisupala was right in saying the Lord Krishna does not deserve merely the purodasa rice cake, offered to the lesser demigods as a substitute for the heavenly beverage soma. In fact, Lord Krishna deserves to receive everything that we possess, since He is the ultimate proprietor of everything, including ourselves. Thus we should give Lord Krishna our life and soul, not merely a ritualistic offering of rice cakes.