Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 11.5.7
రజసా ఘోరసఙ్కల్పా: కాముకా అహిమన్యవ: ।
దామ్భికా మానిన: పాపా విహసన్త్యచ్యుతప్రియాన్ ॥ ౭ ॥
rajasā ghora-saṅkalpāḥ
[rajasaa ghora-sankalpaah]
kāmukā ahi-manyavaḥ
[kaamukaa ahi-manyavah]
dāmbhikā māninaḥ pāpā
[daambhikaa maaninah paapaa]
vihasanty acyuta-priyān
[vihasanty achyuta-priyaan]
Word-for-word
rajasā
—
by the prominence of the mode of passion
ghora-saṅkalpāḥ
—
having horrible desires
kāmukāḥ
—
lusty
ahi-manyavaḥ
—
their anger like that of a snake
dāmbhikāḥ
—
deceitful
māninaḥ
—
overly proud
pāpāḥ
—
sinful
vihasanti
—
they make fun
acyuta-priyān
—
of those who are dear to the infallible Supreme Lord.
Blended reading (Sanskrit + English inline)
rajasā ghora-saṅkalpāḥ
rajasā
by the prominence of the mode of passion
ghora-saṅkalpāḥ
having horrible desires
kāmukāḥ
lusty
ahi-manyavaḥ
their anger like that of a snake
kāmukā ahi-manyavaḥ
dāmbhikā māninaḥ pāpā
dāmbhikāḥ
deceitful
māninaḥ
overly proud
pāpāḥ
sinful
vihasanty acyuta-priyān
vihasanti
they make fun
acyuta-priyān
of those who are dear to the infallible Supreme Lord.
Due to the influence of the mode of passion, the materialistic followers of the Vedas become subject to violent desires and are excessively lusty. Their anger is like that of a snake. Deceitful, overly proud, and sinful in their behavior, they mock the devotees who are dear to Lord Acyuta.
Purport
Ghora-saṅkalpāḥ refers to ghastly desires, such as thinking, “He is my enemy, let him die.” Due to the mode of passion, waves of lust overcome the conditioned soul, who then becomes furious like a snake. Such a person, filled with pride and arrogance, cannot appreciate the humble efforts of the Lord’s devotees to distribute Kṛṣṇa consciousness. He thinks, “These beggars worship Lord Viṣṇu to fill their bellies, but they will never be happy.” Such a materialistic rascal cannot appreciate the transcendental status of the devotees of the Lord, who are personally protected and encouraged by the Personality of Godhead.
— A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda
Gauḍīya Ācāryas
Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura
Gauḍīya
Translation
Due to the influence of the mode of passion, they become subject to terrible vows and are excessively lusty. Their anger is like that of a snake. Deceitful, overly proud, and sinful in their behavior, they mock the devotees.
These people make terrible vows such as “This enemy should die!” due to the increase of rajoguṇa. They have snake-like anger with ever-increasing anger. They wear wood beads and beg to fill their bellies while worshipping Viṣṇu. In this way they only attain suffering. They mock the devotees.
Related lectures
Personal Guidance
Driven by rajas, the worldly mock Acyuta's devotees as beggars — guard your heart from that scorn and stand quietly with those Kṛṣṇa loves.
Practical Applications
- Notice the next time a ghora-saṅkalpa rises — a private wish that someone fail or suffer — and refuse it before it ripens into speech.
- When you feel the snake-like flash of anger today, pause, chant Kṛṣṇa's name once, and break the rajasic chain before you act.
- Speak respectfully today of a devotee you have been quietly dismissing as naive, simple, or 'one of those beggars.'
Reflection Questions
- Whose sincere bhakti have I been mocking inwardly — and what does that scorn reveal about the rajas still ruling me?
- Where in my life is dāmbhika pride dressing itself up as religion, scholarship, or sophistication?
For Each Age Group
youth
- Catch the next group chat where friends are roasting a 'too religious' classmate, and quietly decline to join in — even a single laugh is vihasanti.
- When a professor or influencer mocks bhakti as escapism, notice the rajasic heat that rises in you to argue back, and respond from steadiness instead of snake-anger.
- Audit your social media for the past week — how many posts secretly mocked someone's sincerity? Delete one and resolve not to post another like it.
householder
- In the next family decision about money or status, watch for the ghora-saṅkalpa that wishes a rival colleague or relative would fail, and offer that thought to Kṛṣṇa instead of acting on it.
- When your spouse or child does something simple and devotional that embarrasses you socially, refuse the dāmbhika impulse to correct them in front of others.
- Stop referring to a devotee friend or relative — even jokingly — as impractical, unemployable, or naïve in front of your children; they are learning whom to respect.
senior
- Review the people you have dismissed across your life as 'simple-minded bhaktas' and, where possible, write or call one to acknowledge their steadiness.
- As mortality nears, notice every flicker of snake-anger toward family or caregivers and use it as a signal that rajas is still operating — soften before speaking.
- Mentor younger family members not in worldly cleverness alone but by openly honoring the devotees of Acyuta, so your legacy is not dāmbhika pride but shelter.
Common Pitfalls
- Reading the verse as being about 'those other materialists' rather than catching the same ghora-saṅkalpa, lust, and pride in oneself.
- Using the verse to feel superior to non-devotees, thereby committing the very mocking the verse condemns.
- Treating rajas-driven anger as righteous indignation 'on Kṛṣṇa's behalf' instead of recognizing it as one's own snake-venom.
Discussion Prompts
- Share a moment when you privately mocked a devotee's simplicity — what was actually threatening to you in their devotion?
- Where do you see the line between healthy discrimination about company and the dāmbhika pride this verse warns against?
- Is the 'materialistic follower of the Vedas' a category outside this room, or does each of us carry one inside? Defend your view.
Role Play
A college-age devotee comes home for a family gathering. An accomplished, religiously observant uncle laughs and says, 'These Hare Kṛṣṇa people are just beggars in robes — get a real career and worship at home like the rest of us.' Two students play the devotee and the uncle; the devotee must respond without anger, without dāmbhika counter-pride, and without abandoning the dignity of Acyuta's servants.
Objections & Responses
- This verse just sounds like religious in-group talk — devotees calling outsiders sinful and proud. Isn't that exactly the arrogance it claims to criticize?
Read it again — the verse is a mirror, not a weapon. Prabhupāda's purport names ghora-saṅkalpa, lust, and snake-anger as symptoms of rajas in the conditioned soul, which includes us. The verse warns the student against becoming the mocker, not against the mocker being 'them.' The day we use it to feel superior, we have stepped inside the very category it describes. - Plenty of pious, hard-working religious people scoff at devotees. Why call them sinful just because they don't accept your particular path?
The verse does not condemn their work or their study of the Vedas — it diagnoses what happens when those activities are driven by rajas without surrender to Kṛṣṇa. The fruit is visible: violent desires, lust, snake-anger, deceit, pride, and scorn for those who are dear to Acyuta. That cluster, not their outward religiosity, is what the verse names. The same diagnosis is offered to us the moment those symptoms appear in our own conduct.
My note
Source: vedabase.io