FolioCorpusBhagavad-gītā

Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 10.64.36

రాజానో రాజలక్ష్మ్యాన్ధా నాత్మపాతం విచక్షతే । నిరయం యేఽభిమన్యన్తే బ్రహ్మస్వం సాధు బాలిశా: ॥ ౩౬ ॥
rājāno rāja-lakṣmyāndhā
[raajaano raaja-lakshmyaandhaa]
nātma-pātaṁ vicakṣate
[naatma-paatam vichakshate]
nirayaṁ ye ’bhimanyante
[nirayam ye ’bhimanyante]
brahma-svaṁ sādhu bāliśāḥ
[brahma-svam saadhu baalishaah]
Word-for-word
rājānaḥ — members of the kingly class rāja — royal lakṣmyā — by opulence andhāḥ — blinded na — do not ātma — their own pātam — fall vicakṣate — foresee nirayam — hell ye — who abhimanyante — hanker for brahma - svam — a brāhmaṇa’s property sādhu — as appropriate bāliśaḥ — childish .
Blended reading (Sanskrit + English inline)
rājāno rāja-lakṣmyāndhā
rājānaḥ
members of the kingly class
rāja
royal
lakṣmyā
by opulence
andhāḥ
blinded
nātma-pātaṁ vicakṣate
na
do not
ātma
their own
pātam
fall
vicakṣate
foresee
nirayaṁ ye ’bhimanyante
nirayam
hell
ye
who
abhimanyante
hanker for
brahma-svaṁ sādhu bāliśāḥ
brahma - svam
a brāhmaṇa’s property
sādhu
as appropriate
bāliśaḥ
childish .
Important Words
  • rāja - lakṣmyā andhāḥ — blinded by royal opulence
    Rāja (royal) + lakṣmī (fortune) + andha (blind). Aiśvarya itself is the blinder. Gauḍīyas note: this is precisely the disease the chapter was staged to diagnose — Kṛṣṇa's own family had grown ānandha with rāja-lakṣmī, and the lesson is for them first.
  • na ātma - pātam vicakṣate — do not foresee their own fall
    Na (not) + ātman (self) + pāta (fall) + vi-√cakṣ (to perceive). The exact diagnosis: a king cannot see his own coming fall. The chapter's whole apparatus — Nṛga's testimony — exists to lend such a king the eyes he lacks.
  • nirayam — hell
    From ni-√i. Paired in the verse with abhimanyante (from abhi-√man, 'to consider with desire'). The grammar is unusually strong: the kings do not merely 'fall into' hell but 'long for' it. The implication: the brāhmaṇa-property they crave is, in śāstric reality, identical with the hell that follows it.
  • bāliśaḥ — childish
    From bāla (child). The kings are diagnosed as bāliśa — children playing with fire. Kṛṣṇa, addressing actual young boys (the Yadu kumāras), reverses the metaphor: real children should not be as childish as opulence-blinded kings.
Members of the royal order, blinded by royal opulence, fail to foresee their own downfall. Childishly hankering to enjoy a brāhmaṇa’s property, they are actually hankering to go to hell.
Gauḍīya Ācāryas
Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura Gauḍīya
Translation
Members of the royal order, blinded by royal opulence, fail to foresee their own downfall. Childishly hankering to enjoy a brāhmaṇa's property, they are actually hankering to go to hell.
Commentary

Those who desire brahmana's property for themselves also desire hell. They are foolish, not seeing their own falldown.

Jīva Gosvāmī Gauḍīya
Commentary

The king, his family, servants and others (rājānaḥ), blinded by royal wealth, who are foolish, who strongly (sādhu) desire the property of a brāhmaṇa, do not see their fall to hell. Sādhu can also modify bāliśāḥ: they are extremely foolish.

Śrīdhara Svāmī Gauḍīya
Commentary

One should not say that there is no fault if the guardians of a brāhmaṇa’s property enjoys it. Those blinded by the wealth of a king or by taking up a king’s post fail to see their downfall. Those who thoroughly (ṣadhu) desire to enjoy the brāhmaṇa’s property fail to see their downfall. Or those who are most foolish (sadhu bāliśāḥ) and desire to enjoy the brāhmaṇa’s property fail to see their downfall.

Related values & verses
Concepts
Jiva
Related lectures
Personal Guidance
Analogy

Royal opulence dazzles the very eyes that should see clearly — and a king blinded by his own crown reaches for what will plunge him into hell, mistaking it for one more pleasant possession. The opulence is the cataract.

📝 My note

Source: vedabase.io

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