Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 10.56.11
Blended reading (Sanskrit + English inline)
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abhyarcitaḥ
—
properly worshiped
Past participle of abhi + √arc. The jewel's power activates only when worshiped — even mundane wealth follows the law of arcanā. But the Gauḍīya correction: arcanā of objects, not Bhagavān, multiplies the obstacle.
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māyinaḥ
—
deceivers, cheats
From māyā (illusion, trickery). The jewel keeps māyāvīs out — yet the holder of the jewel will himself become the chapter's most prominent māyāvī, accusing Kṛṣṇa of theft. The protection cannot reach inward.
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ariṣṭāni
—
catastrophes
Plural of ariṣṭa. The same word used in Canto 10 for the bull-demon Ariṣṭāsura. In Kṛṣṇa's presence ariṣṭas are slain; under a jewel's protection they are merely deflected — not destroyed at the root.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Svāmī gives the following śāstric reference concerning the bhāra: caturbhir vrīhibhir guñjāṁ guñjāḥ pañca paṇaṁ paṇān aṣṭau dharaṇam aṣṭau ca karṣaṁ tāṁś caturaḥ palam tulāṁ pala-śataṁ prāhur bhāraḥ syād viṁśatis tulāḥ “Four rice grains are called one guñjā; five guñjās, one paṇa; eight paṇas, one karṣa; four karṣas, one pala; and one hundred palas, one tulā. Twenty tulās make up one bhāra. ” Since there are about 3,700 grains of rice in an ounce, the Syamantaka jewel was producing approximately 170 pounds of gold every day.
Four yavas equels one gunja. Five gunjas equal one pana. Eight panas equal one dharana. Eight dharanas equal one karsa. Four karsas equal one pala. One hundred palas equals one tula. Twenty tulas equal one bhara. There can be no untimely death (mari) where this jewel is situated.
O Parīkṣit, you are a great devotee (prabho)! Therefore you do not care for such wealth! If by chance you obtain wealth, you offer it to the Lord. Mārī is a pestilence which causes daily death in cities and towns with dense population. Māyinaḥ refers to all cheaters. The gem must be worshipped properly. Otherwise it causes great calamity. This will be explained later.
- Where does your worship of a treasure produce ongoing yield?
- How does honoring create ongoing return that misuse destroys?
The jewel banishes famine, disease, snake bite — but cannot banish the greed that holds it. It is the perfect mirror of dharmic dharma without bhakti: tidy outcomes, blocked heart.
The two sons of Kuvera, born to limitless wealth, became so drunk with prosperity that they sported naked in the Ganges with celestial women. Nārada cursed them into tree-shapes — only Kṛṣṇa, walking in Vraja, would liberate them.
Like Satrājit in this verse, they had a wealth-producing inheritance and lost the distinction between blessing and noose. Gold without surrender always becomes the snake bite the gold was supposed to prevent.
My note
Source: vedabase.io