FolioCorpusŚrīmad-Bhāgavatam

Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 3.24.27

अहो पापच्यमानानां निरये स्वैरमङ्गलै: । कालेन भूयसा नूनं प्रसीदन्तीह देवता: ॥ २७ ॥
aho pāpacyamānānāṁ
[aho paapachyamaanaanaam]
niraye svair amaṅgalaiḥ
[niraye svair amangalaih]
kālena bhūyasā nūnaṁ
[kaalena bhooyasaa noonam]
prasīdantīha devatāḥ
[praseedanteeha devataah]
aho — oh pāpacyamānānām — with those being much afflicted niraye — in the hellish material entanglement svaiḥ — their own amaṅgalaiḥ — by misdeeds kālena bhūyasā — after a long time nūnam — indeed prasīdanti — they are pleased iha — in this world devatāḥ — the demigods.
Blended reading (Sanskrit + English inline)
aho pāpacyamānānāṁ
aho
oh
pāpacyamānānām
with those being much afflicted
niraye svair amaṅgalaiḥ
niraye
in the hellish material entanglement
svaiḥ
their own
amaṅgalaiḥ
by misdeeds
kālena bhūyasā nūnaṁ
kālena bhūyasā
after a long time
nūnam
indeed
prasīdantīha devatāḥ
prasīdanti
they are pleased
iha
in this world
devatāḥ
the demigods.
Kardama Muni said: Oh, after a long time the demigods of this universe have become pleased with the suffering souls who are in material entanglement because of their own misdeeds.

This material world is a place for suffering, which is due to the misdeeds of the inhabitants, the conditioned souls themselves. The sufferings are not extraneously imposed upon them; rather, the conditioned souls create their own suffering by their own acts. In the forest, fire takes place automatically. It is not that someone has to go there and set a fire; because of friction among various trees, fire occurs automatically. When there is too much heat from the forest fire of this material world, the demigods, including Brahmā himself, being harassed, approach the Supreme Lord, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, and appeal to Him to alleviate the condition. Then the Supreme Personality of Godhead descends. In other words, when the demigods become distressed by the sufferings of the conditioned souls, they approach the Lord to remedy the suffering, and the Personality of Godhead descends. When the Lord descends, all the demigods become enlivened. Therefore Kardama Muni said, “After many, many years of human suffering, all the demigods are now satisfied because Kapiladeva, the incarnation of Godhead, has appeared.”

— A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda
Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura Gauḍīya
Translation
Oh! In this world, the devatās become pleased with persons burning in material existence from their sinful actions only after a long time. Your appearance in my house without motive is because of your mercy only. I do not have any qualities that caused it. This is expressed in three verses. There are three types of persons seen in the world: worshippers of devatās, worshippers of Brahman and worshippers of the Supreme Lord, Bhagavān. Worship of devatās produces material results. They are pleased after a long time, within the worshipper’s lifetime, but not immediately, to the living beings burning in the hell of material existence. Then they give the desired results after a long time.
The scale of the creation in this verse is not given to overwhelm us but to right-size us. Most of our anxiety shrinks when our self-importance shrinks. The pivot here is Supreme Personality of Godhead.
Reflection Questions
  • How does it change your day to remember the universe was not built around your preferences?
  • What would humility actually look like for you in your work this week?
📝 My note

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