FolioCorpusBhagavad-gītā

Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 10.74.35

వర్ణాశ్రమకులాపేత: సర్వధర్మబహిష్కృత: । స్వైరవర్తీ గుణైర్హీన: సపర్యాం కథమర్హతి ॥ ౩౫ ॥
varṇāśrama-kulāpetaḥ
[varnaashrama-kulaapetah]
sarva-dharma-bahiṣ-kṛtaḥ
[sarva-dharma-bahish-kritah]
svaira-vartī guṇair hīnaḥ
[svaira-vartee gunair heenah]
saparyāṁ katham arhati
[saparyaam katham arhati]
varṇa — of the principles of the four occupational orders of society āśrama — of the four spiritual orders kula — and of proper family upbringing apetaḥ — devoid sarva — from all dharma — codes of religious duty bahiḥ - kṛtaḥ — excluded svaira — independently vartī — behaving guṇaiḥ — qualities hīnaḥ — lacking saparyām — worship katham — how arhati — deserves .
Blended reading (Sanskrit + English inline)
varṇāśrama-kulāpetaḥ
varṇa
of the principles of the four occupational orders of society
āśrama
of the four spiritual orders
kula
and of proper family upbringing
apetaḥ
devoid
sarva-dharma-bahiṣ-kṛtaḥ
sarva
from all
dharma
codes of religious duty
bahiḥ - kṛtaḥ
excluded
svaira-vartī guṇair hīnaḥ
svaira
independently
vartī
behaving
guṇaiḥ
qualities
hīnaḥ
lacking
saparyāṁ katham arhati
saparyām
worship
katham
how
arhati
deserves .
  • varṇa - āśrama — of the four occupational orders and four spiritual orders
    Compound: varṇa (social order) + āśrama (life-stage). The Vedic social-spiritual framework. Śiśupāla wields it as a measuring rod; Gauḍīyas: varṇāśrama is Kṛṣṇa's organisation (Gītā 4.13 — cātur-varṇyam mayā sṛṣṭam), not His superior.
  • bahiḥ - kṛtaḥ — excluded
    Compound: bahis (outside) + kṛta (made). 'Made-outside'. Śiśupāla's claim: Kṛṣṇa is bahiḥ-kṛta from dharma. The Bhāgavatam has spent ten cantos showing the opposite — Kṛṣṇa is dharma's antar-tattva.
  • svaira - vartī — behaving independently
    Compound: svaira (self-willed) + vartin (acting). Śiśupāla calls Kṛṣṇa svairī as insult. Gauḍīyas: yes — Bhagavān is svairī, that is svarāṭ; He does not act under another's compulsion. The insult is a confession of His sovereignty.
  • guṇaiḥ hīnaḥ — lacking qualities
    Instrumental + hīna (devoid). The crowning slander: Kṛṣṇa is guṇa-hīna. Gauḍīyas: He is nirguṇa in the sense of being beyond the three modes (sattva, rajas, tamas), not lacking. Śiśupāla weaponises a half-truth that Vedānta uses correctly only of nirguṇa-brahman.
How does one who follows no principles of the social and spiritual orders or of family ethics, who has been excluded from all religious duties, who behaves whimsically, and who has no good qualities — how does such a person deserve to be worshiped?

Śrīla Prabhupāda comments: “Actually, Kṛṣṇa does not belong to any caste, nor does He have to perform any occupational duty. It is stated in the Vedas that the Supreme Lord has nothing to do as His prescribed duty. Whatever has to be done on His behalf is executed by His different energies.… Śiśupāla indirectly praised Kṛṣṇa by saying that He is not within the jurisdiction of Vedic injunction. This is true because He is the Supreme Personality of Godhead. That He has no qualities means that Kṛṣṇa has no material qualities, and because He is the Supreme Personality of Godhead, He acts independently, not caring for conventions or social or religious principles.”

— A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda
Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura Gauḍīya
Translation
How does one who follows no principles of the social and spiritual orders or of family ethics, who has been excluded from all religious duties, who behaves whimsically, and who has no good qualities—how does such a person deserve to be worshiped?
Commentary

Varnasrama kula apetah: The superficial means is : he is a person who has transgressed (apeta) varna, asrama and kula. The other meaning is : he is a person who has accepted the position of son (itah) for Vasudeva and others who exactly accepted ( a pa) varna, asrama and kula. He is devoid of all dharma and moves independently. The other meaning is: because he is the supreme lord, he is beyond all the gunas such as sattva (dharma), because he is the form of suddha sattva. How can such a person deserve just the first worship? He is deserving of complete surrender by all.

Jīva Gosvāmī Gauḍīya
Commentary

“What is the fault if Kṛṣṇa disguised himself as a cowherd in order to fool him and kill him, since Śiśupāla was evil?” The external meaning is clear. The real meaning is from the point of view of Brahman or the Lord, these rules would not apply. He is beyond all names and families. Because he is beyond all this, he is free to reject it all and act independently. What use is insignificant worship meant for jīvas? From the point of view of his human pastimes, if he is beyond the rules of varṇāśrama, why should he be worshipped by devatās and sages?

Śrīdhara Svāmī Gauḍīya
Commentary

“What is the fault if Kṛṣṇa disguised himself as a cowherd in order to fool him and kill him, since Śiśupāla was evil?” Though, from the material point of view Kṛṣṇa lacked qualities as a true kṣatriya, the bad words arose from anger, without careful thought.

Related values
Vairagya (Detachment / Dispassion)Discriminative WisdomShanti (Peace / Tranquility)Abhaya (Fearlessness)Seva (Service / Selfless Action)Ishvara Pranidhana (Surrender to God)Aparigraha (Non-possessiveness)Ahimsa (Non-violence / Compassion)Anahankarah (Freedom from False Ego)
Related verses

An ignorant inspector glances at a yogi outside the varṇāśrama system and writes 'unqualified'. Śiśupāla audits Kṛṣṇa against the human social code as if Bhagavān were a candidate inside it — not realising Kṛṣṇa is the author of the code, never its applicant.

📝 My note

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