Verse 2.5.145

Bengali text, Devanagari and Unicode transliteration of verse 2.5.145:

যত পাপ হয প্রজা-জনেরে হিংসিলে তার শত-গুণ হয বৈষ্ণব নিন্দিলে ॥ ১৪৫ ॥

यत पाप हय प्रजा-जनेरे हिंसिले तार शत-गुण हय वैष्णव निन्दिले ॥ १४५ ॥

yata pāpa haya prajā-janere hiṃsile tāra śata-guṇa haya vaiṣṇava nindile || 145 ||

yata papa haya praja-janere himsile tara sata-guna haya vaisnava nindile (145)

English translation:

(145) It is a hundred times more sinful to blaspheme a Vaiṣṇava than to be envious of ordinary living entities.

Commentary: Gauḍīya-bhāṣya by Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura:

Lord Viṣṇu is situated in the heart of every human being. And although Vaiṣṇavas appear to be ordinary human beings, they are always situated as Vaiṣṇavas due to their inclination towards the service of Lord Viṣṇu residing in their hearts. Ordinary human beings are bereft of the service of Viṣṇu and are situated in the modes of passion and ignorance, whereas Vaiṣṇavas are fully saturated with the mode of goodness and are constantly engaged in the service of Viṣṇu. So if one carefully considers the differences that exist between them, then it is understood that by envying a Vaiṣṇava engaged in the service of Viṣṇu one incurs a hundred times more sins or offenses than by envying an ordinary living entity. In the Śrīmad Bhāgavatam (4.4.13) it is stated:

nāścaryam etad yad asatsu sarvadā mahad-vinindā kuṇapātma-vādiṣu serṣyaṃ mahāpūruṣa-pāda-pāṃsubhir nirasta-tejaḥsu tad eva śobhanam

“It is not wonderful for persons who have accepted the transient material body as the self to engage always in deriding great souls. Such envy on the part of materialistic persons is very good because that is the way they fall down. They are diminished by the dust of the feet of great personalities.” In the Skanda Purāṇa it is stated:

yo hi bhāgavataṃ lokam upahāsaṃ nṛpottama karoti tasya naśyanti artha-dharma-yaśaḥ-sutāḥ

nindāṃ kurvanti ye mūḍhā vaiṣṇavānāṃ mahātmanām patanti pitṛbhiḥ sārdhaṃ mahā-raurava-saṃjñite

hanti nindati vai dveṣṭi vaiṣṇavān nābhinandati krudhyate yāti no harṣaṃ darśane patanāni ṣaṭ

pūrvaṃ kṛtvā tu sammānam avajñāṃ kurute tu y aḥvaiṣṇavānāṃ mahī-pāla sānvayo yāti saṅkṣayam

“My dear King, if one derides an exalted devotee, he loses the results of his pious activities, his opulence, his reputation, and his sons. Vaiṣṇavas are all great souls. Whoever blasphemes them falls down to the hell known as Mahāraurava. He is also accompanied by his forefathers.

Whoever kills or blasphemes a Vaiṣṇava, whoever is envious of or angry with a Vaiṣṇava, and whoever does not offer obeisances or feel joy upon seeing a Vaiṣṇava certainly falls into a hellish condition. O ruler of the world, one who first respects a Vaiṣṇava and then later insults him is vanquished along with his family.” In the Amṛta-sāroddhāra it is stated:

janma-prabhṛti yat kiñcit sukṛtaṃ samupārjitam nāśam āyāti tat sarvaṃ pīḍayed yadi vaiṣṇavān

“If one gives pain to Vaiṣṇavas, then the results of his pious activities like high birth and high caste are all destroyed.” In the Dvārakā- māhātmya it is said:

kara-patraiś ca phālyante su-tīvrair yama-śāsanaiḥ nindāṃ kurvanti ye pāpā vaiṣṇavānāṃ mahātmanām

pūjito bhagavān viṣṇur janmāntara-śatair api prasīdati na viśvātmā vaiṣṇave cāpamānite

“Those most sinful people who criticize great Vaiṣṇavas are subjected by Yamarāja to the severe punishment of being sliced in pieces by very sharp saws. Lord Hari, the Supersoul of the entire universe, is never pleased with the miscreant who insults a Vaiṣṇava, even if he has worshiped Viṣṇu for hundreds of births.” In the Brahma-vaivarta Purāṇa, Kṛṣṇa-janma-khaṇḍa, it is stated:

ye nindanti hṛṣīkeśaṃ tad-bhaktaṃ puṇya-rūpiṇam śata-janmārjitaṃ puṇyaṃ teṣāṃ naśyati niścitam

te patanti mahā-ghore kumbhīpāke bhayānake bhakṣitāḥ kīṭa-saṅghena yāvac candra-divākarau

tasya darśana-mātreṇa puṇyaṃ naśyati niścitam

gaṅgāṃ snātvā raviṃ dṛṣṭā tadā vidvān viśuddhyati

“Those who criticize Lord Hṛṣīkeśa and His devotees lose all the benefits accrued in a hundred pious births. Such sinners rot in the Kumbhīpāka hell and are eaten by hordes of worms for as long as the sun and moon exist. If one sees a person who blasphemes Lord Viṣṇu and His devotees, then the results of all his pious activities are lost. When learned persons see such non-Vaiṣṇavas, they purify themselves by taking bath in the Ganges and looking at the sun.”