Verse 1.1.39

Bengali text, Devanagari and Unicode transliteration of verse 1.1.39:

ভাগবত যে না মানে, সে—যবন-সম তার শাস্তা আছে জন্মে-জন্মে প্রভু যম ॥ ৩৯ ॥

भागवत ये ना माने, से—यवन-सम तार शास्ता आछे जन्मे-जन्मे प्रभु यम ॥ ३९ ॥

bhāgavata ye nā māne, se—yavana-sama tāra śāstā āche janme-janme prabhu yama || 39 ||

bhagavata ye na mane, se—yavana-sama tara sasta ache janme-janme prabhu yama (39)

English translation:

(39) One who does not accept Śrīmad Bhāgavatam is no better than a Yavana, and Lord Yamarāja punishes him birth after birth.

Commentary: Gauḍīya-bhāṣya by Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura:

In the Bhāgavata-māhātmya of the Padma Purāṇa, Uttara-khaṇḍa,

Chapter 63, it is stated: “The topics of the Supreme Lord are realized by

discussing Śrīmad Bhāgavatam. One can understand the purport of the Vedas from every line of every śloka.” There are many other similar statements in the various Vaiṣṇava Purāṇas.

The result of disregarding Śrīmad Bhāgavatam is described in the Hari- bhakti-vilāsa (10.2.77) as follows: “In this age of Kali, one who considers Śrīmad Bhāgavatam more dear than his own life will never suffer the punishment of Yamarāja, even for a hundred kalpas.” Also in Hari- bhakti-vilāsa (10.2.81) it is stated: “The wretched person who does not appreciate the study of Śrīmad Bhāgavatam and who hinders others in its study causes a hundred generations of family members to go to hell.” In the Padma Purāṇa, Uttara-khaṇḍa, Chapter 63, it is stated: “One continues to wander in the cycle of birth and death as long as he does not for even a moment hear the Śrīmad Bhāgavatam, which was recited by Śukadeva Gosvāmī. A person who does not hear anything from the Śrīmad Bhāgavatam throughout his entire life is no better than a caṇḍāla or an ass. The result of his birth was only his mother’s delivery pains.

Indra, the king of the demigods in heaven, declares that the sinful man who never hears the topics of Bhāgavatam is simply a burden to the earth, and although living, he is actually dead.”

The word yavana refers to a mleccha who does not follow proper behavior and is averse to Vedic literatures. In the Mahābhārata (Ādi 84.13-15) King Yayāti curses Turvasu in the following words: “O Turvasu! Although you were born from my heart, you are not giving me your youth. Therefore your sons will not inherit the kingdom. You fool! You will be the king of low-class persons who are caṇḍālas, meat-eaters, or born from intercaste marriages. You will be the king of those sinful mlecchas who are lusty for the wife of their guru and those whose mentality and activities are no better than animals.” Elsewhere in the Mahābhārata (Ādi 85.34) it is said: “The descendants of Yadu Mahārāja are called Yādava kṣatriyas, and the descendants of Turvasu are known as Yavanas. The descendants of Druhya are known as Bhojas, and the descendants of Anu are known as mlecchas.” In the Mahābhārata (Ādi

174.36) it is stated: “The Pahlavas were created from her tail, the Draviḍas and Śaṅkas were created from her udder, the Yavanas were created from her genital, and the Śabaras and Bahūnas were created from her dung.” In the Rāmāyaṇa (Bāla-kāṇḍa 55.3) it is stated: “The Yavanas were born from the genital.” The Hari-vaṃśa (Hari-vaṃśa-parva 14.25- 26) says: “Keeping his promise and respecting the words of his guru, King Sagara did not kill them but destroyed their religious principles and changed their dress. He shaved half the heads of the Śakas and the full heads of the Yavanas and Pahlavas.” The following statement is found in the Manu-saṃhitā (10.44-45): “The Pauṇḍras, Codas, Draviḍas, Kambogas, Yavanas, Śakas, Pāradas, Pahlavas, Cīnas, Kirātas, Daradas, and Khaśas, all of whom were not born from the mouth, arms, thighs, or feet of the Lord, are called dasyus, whether they speak the language of the mlecchas or that of the Āryans.” In the Prāyaścitta-tattva, the

Bodhāyana-smṛti is quoted as follows: “Those persons who eat cow flesh, who always speak critically, and who are devoid of proper conduct are called mlecchas. Persons born in the place called Yavana are called Yavanas.” In the Vṛddha-cāṇakya it is stated: “Wise persons have said that among thousands of caṇḍālas, one is a Yavana. There is no person more degraded than a Yavana.”

The living entities are born in higher and lower castes according to the fruits of their activities. By the influence of sattva-guṇa, living entities are born in the families of brāhmaṇas, and by the influence of rajo-guṇa and tamo-guṇa living entities are born in sinful lower castes, like the Yavanas. The living entities who are born in the families of brāhmaṇas receive ample opportunity to become swanlike knowers of the Absolute Truth through the study of the Vedas, but living entities who are born in the families of lower castes like Yavanas are not qualified to study the Vedic literatures. Śrīmad Bhāgavatam is the ripened fruit of the desire tree of Vedic literature and the crest jewel of all scriptures. The Yavanas have no respect for Śrīmad Bhāgavatam whatsoever. If someone is born in the family of a caste higher than that of a Yavana and he unfortunately

does not respect Śrīmad Bhāgavatam, which is the personification of devotional service to Lord Kṛṣṇa, the shelter of everyone, and equal to Kṛṣṇa, then due to the lack of good instructions from the spiritual master, such misguided people become degraded to the status of foolish uncultured Yavanas or no better than asses. At present in the pious land of India there are people who belong to societies that are supposedly opposed to the non-Āryans, and although they unfortunately advertise themselves as followers of the Vedas, because they are extremely averse to understanding the meaning of the Śrīmad Bhāgavatam, they are envious of its conclusions. These people are similar to foolish asslike Yavanas. On the other hand, although Haridāsa Ṭhākura was born in a family of Yavanas, he was faithful to the Śrīmad Bhāgavatam and fully conversant with its conclusions. He was therefore the crest jewel of the brāhmaṇas and a swanlike pure devotee.

In this verse the word prabhu refers to one who is able to kill or protect. In the Śrīmad Bhāgavatam (6.3.7) the Yamadūtas spoke to Yamarāja as follows: “The supreme judge must be one, not many. It was our understanding that you are that supreme judge and that you have jurisdiction even over the demigods. Our impression was that you are the master of all living entities, the supreme authority who discriminates between the pious and impious activities of all human beings.” In the Nṛsiṃha Purāṇa (and Viṣṇu Purāṇa 3.7.15) it is stated: “Śrī Yamarāja, who judges the pious and impious activities of the living entities, offers his obeisances to the devotees of the Lord and punishes those who are envious of Viṣṇu and the Vaiṣṇavas by forcing them to suffer in hell according to the results of their activities. Rather than attaining eternal happiness, those who are averse to serving the Supreme Lord certainly suffer miseries born from their attempts to enjoy separately from the Lord.”