FolioCorpusŚrīmad-Bhāgavatam

Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 5.10.13

उन्मत्तमत्तजडवत्स्वसंस्थां गतस्य मे वीर चिकित्सितेन । अर्थ: कियान् भवता शिक्षितेन स्तब्धप्रमत्तस्य च पिष्टपेष: ॥ १३ ॥
unmatta-matta-jaḍavat sva-saṁsthāṁ
[unmatta-matta-jadavat sva-samsthaam]
gatasya me vīra cikitsitena
[gatasya me veera chikitsitena]
arthaḥ kiyān bhavatā śikṣitena
[arthah kiyaan bhavataa shikshitena]
stabdha-pramattasya ca piṣṭapeṣaḥ
[stabdha-pramattasya cha pishtapeshah]
Word-for-word
unmatta — madness matta — a drunkard jaḍa-vat — like a dunce sva-saṁsthām — situation in my original constitutional position gatasya — of one who has obtained me — of me vīra — O King cikitsitena — by your chastisement arthaḥ — the meaning or purpose kiyān — what bhavatā — by you śikṣitena — by being instructed stabdha — dull pramattasya — of a crazy man ca — also piṣṭa-peṣaḥ — like grinding flour.
Blended reading (Sanskrit + English inline)
unmatta-matta-jaḍavat sva-saṁsthāṁ
unmatta
madness
matta
a drunkard
jaḍa-vat
like a dunce
sva-saṁsthām
situation in my original constitutional position
gatasya me vīra cikitsitena
gatasya
of one who has obtained
me
of me
vīra
O King
cikitsitena
by your chastisement
arthaḥ kiyān bhavatā śikṣitena
arthaḥ
the meaning or purpose
kiyān
what
bhavatā
by you
śikṣitena
by being instructed
stabdha-pramattasya ca piṣṭapeṣaḥ
stabdha
dull
pramattasya
of a crazy man
ca
also
piṣṭa-peṣaḥ
like grinding flour.
My dear King, you have said, “You rascal, you dull, crazy fellow! I am going to chastise you, and then you will come to your senses.” In this regard, let me say that although I live like a dull, deaf and dumb man, I am actually a self-realized person. What will you gain by punishing me? If your calculation is true and I am a madman, then your punishment will be like beating a dead horse. There will be no effect. When a madman is punished, he is not cured of his madness.
Purport

Everyone in this material world is working like a madman under certain impressions falsely acquired in the material condition. For example, a thief who knows that stealing is not good and who knows that it is followed with punishment by a king or by God, who has seen that thieves are arrested and punished by the police, nonetheless steals again and again. He is obsessed with the idea that by stealing he will be happy. This is a sign of madness. Despite repeated punishment, the thief cannot give up his stealing habit; therefore the punishment is useless.

— A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda
Gauḍīya Ācāryas
Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura Gauḍīya
Translation
O King! What purpose is served by punishing a person who has attained Brahman, but who acts like a madman or a dull person? What is accomplished by punishing a mad person? You have said you will punish me for being inattentive. What do you hope to accomplish by verbally or physically punishing a person who is situated in Brahman (sva-saṁsthām), though he may appear to be mad, for liberated persons do not accept either what is useful or not useful? If I am not liberated but mad and dull (stabdha), by your punishment (śikṣitena) you are grinding what is already ground. Just as by pounding powder you do not recreate a solid object, but finer powder, by punishing the mad person one does not pacify madness, but one makes him more insane.
Related lectures
Personal Guidance
Punishing a madman accomplishes nothing — like grinding already-ground flour. Force fails against those who are beyond bodily concern, and it fails to reform those still bound by it. Punishment is rarely the actual lever of change.
Reflection Questions
  • Where are you applying force, hoping it will produce change it cannot produce?
  • What would actually transform the situation if punishment is not the answer?
📝 My note

Source: vedabase.io

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