Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 11.7.37
భూతైరాక్రమ్యమాణోఽపి ధీరో దైవవశానుగై: ।
తద్ విద్వాన్న చలేన్మార్గాదన్వశిక్షం క్షితేర్వ్రతమ్ ॥ ౩౭ ॥
bhūtair ākramyamāṇo ’pi
[bhootair aakramyamaano ’pi]
dhīro daiva-vaśānugaiḥ
[dheero daiva-vashaanugaih]
tad vidvān na calen mārgād
[tad vidvaan na chalen maargaad]
anvaśikṣaṁ kṣiter vratam
[anvashiksham kshiter vratam]
Word-for-word
bhūtaiḥ
—
by various creatures
ākramyamāṇaḥ
—
being harassed
api
—
although
dhīraḥ
—
sober
daiva
—
of fate
vaśa
—
the control
anugaiḥ
—
who are simply following
tat
—
this fact
vidvān
—
he who is in knowledge of
na calet
—
should not deviate
mārgāt
—
from the path
anvaśikṣam
—
I have learned
kṣiteḥ
—
from the earth
vratam
—
this fixed practice.
Blended reading (Sanskrit + English inline)
bhūtair ākramyamāṇo ’pi
bhūtaiḥ
by various creatures
ākramyamāṇaḥ
being harassed
api
although
dhīro daiva-vaśānugaiḥ
dhīraḥ
sober
daiva
of fate
vaśa
the control
anugaiḥ
who are simply following
tad vidvān na calen mārgād
tat
this fact
vidvān
he who is in knowledge of
na calet
should not deviate
mārgāt
from the path
anvaśikṣaṁ kṣiter vratam
anvaśikṣam
I have learned
kṣiteḥ
from the earth
vratam
this fixed practice.
A sober person, even when harassed by other living beings, should understand that his aggressors are acting helplessly under the control of God, and thus he should never be distracted from progress on his own path. This rule I have learned from the earth.
Purport
The earth is the symbol of tolerance. By deep oil-drilling, atomic explosions, pollution, and so on, the earth is constantly harassed by demoniac living entities. Sometimes lush forests are cut down by greedy men with commercial interests, and thus a wasteland is created. Sometimes the earth’s surface is soaked by the blood of soldiers fighting in savage warfare. Yet, despite all these disturbances, the earth continues to provide all the necessities of the living beings. In this way one may learn the art of tolerance by studying the earth.
— A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda
Gauḍīya Ācāryas
Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura
Gauḍīya
Translation
A sober person, even when harassed by other living beings, should understand that his aggressors are acting helplessly under the control of karma, and thus he should never be distracted from progress on his own path. This rule I have learned from the earth.
I have learned tolerance from the earth. An intelligent person understands that all beings are under the control of devatās and Pitṛs.
Related lectures
Personal Guidance
Like the earth that endures every harassment yet keeps yielding what others need, the dhīra knows aggressors act under daiva and never abandons his path.
Practical Applications
- When someone harasses you today, pause and silently recognize that they are acting helplessly under daiva, then return to your sādhana without retaliation.
- Pick the one duty you have been quietly abandoning whenever opposed, and complete it today exactly as if no one had pushed back.
- Before sleep, name one person whose behavior provoked you and offer their conduct to Kṛṣṇa, refusing to let their disturbance pull you off your mārga.
Reflection Questions
- Which path of progress do I quietly leave whenever someone harasses me, and what story do I tell myself to justify that retreat?
- Where am I still treating my aggressors as autonomous enemies rather than as instruments moving under the control of God?
For Each Age Group
youth
- When classmates mock your practice or your choices on social media, do not argue or unfollow in a rage; quietly continue your study and japa as if their comments were weather.
- If a friend group pressures you to abandon a commitment you made to yourself, name it once, then keep the commitment in front of them without lecturing.
- After a humiliating exam result or a public put-down, refuse to ghost your routine for a week; show up to the next class, the next practice, the next prayer on time.
householder
- When a spouse, in-law, or boss criticizes you unfairly, finish the task you were already doing for the family or office before you respond, so the disturbance does not derail the duty.
- Keep providing for your dependents on the days you feel most unappreciated, treating that very thanklessness as the earth-like vrata Kṛṣṇa has handed you.
- When children push back hard against a rule you know is right, hold the rule without raising your voice, and offer the friction of the day to Kṛṣṇa before bed.
senior
- When younger family members dismiss your counsel or your age, do not withdraw into sulking; keep mentoring those who do ask, and keep your sādhana visible without preaching.
- As the body is harassed by illness and decline, treat each symptom as drilling on the earth and refuse to let it interrupt your daily reading, chanting, and remembrance.
- When old grievances resurface in retirement, stop rehearsing who wronged you; recognize each person as having acted under daiva and bring the mind back to Kṛṣṇa.
Common Pitfalls
- Mistaking the earth's tolerance for passive doormat behavior and using this verse to excuse spineless avoidance of legitimate duty.
- Tolerating outwardly while inwardly cataloguing grievances, so the body looks like the dhīra but the heart is still at war.
- Using "they are acting under daiva" as a cold dismissal of others rather than as fuel for one's own steadiness on the path.
Discussion Prompts
- Share one situation this week where you were knocked off your mārga by another person's behavior; what would tolerance modeled on the earth have looked like there?
- Do you actually believe aggressors act helplessly under daiva, or is that a phrase you repeat without conviction; where does the gap show up in your reactions?
- Where is the line between earth-like tolerance and complicity in wrongdoing, and how do you tell which side of it you are on?
Role Play
A co-worker repeatedly takes credit for your work in meetings and now mocks your morning sādhana in front of the team. One student plays the practitioner, another plays the co-worker; the practitioner must respond in real time without abandoning sādhana, without retaliation, and without collapsing into resentful silence, drawing on the earth's vrata.
Objections & Responses
- If the earth just keeps tolerating drilling, pollution, and warfare, isn't this verse a recipe for letting bullies and abusers run over me?
The verse praises steadiness on one's path, not abdication of duty. The earth keeps yielding crops; she does not stop being the earth. Likewise, the dhīra continues his sva-dharma, including protecting dependents, but he is not knocked off the path by personal harassment or the urge for revenge. - Saying my aggressors act helplessly under God's control sounds like fatalism that erases their moral responsibility.
Their responsibility before Kṛṣṇa is between them and Him; that is not your portfolio. What this verse hands you is freedom from being jerked around by their conduct. You stop treating them as the ultimate cause, you keep walking your mārga, and you leave the accounting to the Lord who actually sees it.
My note
Source: vedabase.io