Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 10.64.40
Blended reading (Sanskrit + English inline)
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na me brahma dhanam bhūyāt
—
may the wealth of brāhmaṇas not come to Me
The Lord's first-person disavowal. The grammar (optative bhūyāt) is striking: Kṛṣṇa, owner of all wealth, expressly does not wish for brahma-dhana. The model is set at the top.
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gṛdhvā
—
having lusted
From √gṛdh (to be greedy). The vulture-root. The men who covet brāhmaṇa-property are diagnosed as vultures — greedy in a way the verb's animal sense underlines.
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alpa - āyuṣaḥ
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short-lived
Alpa (short) + āyus (life). Paired in the verse with parājitāḥ (defeated). The two-part consequence falls in this life itself — before the worm-birth in the next. The Bhāgavata's punishments begin already in the present body.
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udvejinaḥ ahayaḥ
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distress-causing snakes
Udvejin (one who distresses) + ahi (snake). The post-mortem species for milder cases (worse than the worm? — read in tandem with v. 39). Snakes who poison others — the symmetry holds: those who poisoned brāhmaṇa-livelihood become poison-creatures in their next form.
Hankering after a brahmana's property one loses life span. What to speak of actually taking the property.
Not only does the person suffer a low birth, but in both this life and the next he suffers even though he wants to avoid this by his strength or trickery. In order show fear to others, the Lord himself shows fear with extreme disgust. Let this theft not be done for me or related to me, since it is done with violence or devious desires, with a desire that I accept it. In this life he has short life, is defeated by enemies, loses his kingdom and in the next life becomes a snake, which gives trouble to others and receives trouble himself. He experiences suffering for a long time. Instead of nrpā sometimes narā is seen.
Not only does the person suffer a low birth, but in both this life and the next he suffers even though he wants to avoid this by his strength or trickery. In order show fear to others, the Lord himself shows fear with extreme disgust. Let this theft not be done for me or related to me, since it is done with violence or devious desires, with a desire that I accept it. In this life he has a short life, is defeated by enemies, loses his kingdom and in the next life becomes a snake, which gives trouble to others in the form of fear. Or they become like snakes and again and again attain hellish life. Though one can accept offerings made by brāhmaṇas out of devotion on behalf of the Lord, he should not accept such offerings since they are often taken by force. Or to teach the people, he does not consider his own position as the Lord.
- What does Kṛṣṇa's own restraint teach me about resources I assume I am entitled to?
- Where might my grasping be quietly preparing me for a future of troubling rather than serving?
Kṛṣṇa, who owns everything, declines a single coin of brāhmaṇa-wealth — and warns His audience to do the same. The Lord's own restraint is the model: He could take it, He will not, and neither should they.
My note
Source: vedabase.io