Srimad Bhagavatam Canto 6 Chapter 3 Verse 30

Canto 6: Prescribed Duties for Mankind | Chapter 3: Yamarāja Instructs His Messengers

Bhaktivedanta VedaBase: Śrīmad Bhāgavatam 6.3.30

tat kṣamyatāḿ sa bhagavān puruṣaḥ purāṇo

nārāyaṇaḥ sva-puruṣair yad asat kṛtaḿ naḥ

svānām aho na viduṣāḿ racitāñjalīnāḿ

kṣāntir garīyasi namaḥ puruṣāya bhūmne

SYNONYMS

tat — that; kṣamyatām — let it be excused; saḥ — He; bhagavān — the Supreme Personality of Godhead; puruṣaḥ — the Supreme Person; purāṇaḥ — the oldest; nārāyaṇaḥ — Lord Nārāyaṇa; sva-puruṣaiḥ — by my own servants; yat — which; asat — impudence; kṛtam — performed; naḥ — of us; svānām — of my own men; aho — alas; na viduṣām — not knowing; racita-añjalīnām — folding our hands together to beg Your pardon; kṣāntiḥ — forgiveness; garīyasi — in the glorious; namaḥ — respectful obeisances; puruṣāya — unto the person; bhūmne — supreme and all-pervading.

TRANSLATION

[Then Yamarāja, considering himself and his servants to be offenders, spoke as follows, begging pardon from the Lord.] O my Lord, my servants have surely committed a great offense by arresting a Vaiṣṇava such as Ajāmila. O Nārāyaṇa, O supreme and oldest person, please forgive us. Because of our ignorance, we failed to recognize Ajāmila as a servant of Your Lordship, and thus we have certainly committed a great offense. Therefore with folded hands we beg Your pardon. My Lord, since You are supremely merciful and are always full of good qualities, please pardon us. We offer our respectful obeisances unto You.

PURPORT

Lord Yamarāja took upon himself the responsibility for the offense committed by his servants. If the servant of an establishment makes a mistake, the establishment takes responsibility for it. Although Yamarāja is above offenses, his servants, practically with his permission, went to arrest Ajāmila, which was a great offense. The nyāya-śāstra confirms, bhṛtyāparādhe svāmino daṇḍaḥ: if a servant makes a mistake, the master is punishable because he is responsible for the offense. Taking this seriously, Yamarāja, along with his servants, prayed with folded hands to be excused by the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Nārāyaṇa.

<<< >>>

Copyright © The Bhaktivedanta Book Trust International, Inc.
His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda, Founder Ācārya of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness