SB 4.4.12
A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada
TEXT 12
- doṣān pareṣāṁ hi guṇeṣu sādhavo
- gṛhṇanti kecin na bhavādṛśo dvija
- guṇāṁś ca phalgūn bahulī-kariṣṇavo
- mahattamās teṣv avidad bhavān agham
SYNONYMS
doṣān — faults; pareṣām — of others; hi — for; guṇeṣu — in the qualities; sādhavaḥ — sādhus; gṛhṇanti — find; kecit — some; na — not; bhavādṛśaḥ — like you; dvija — O twice-born; guṇān — qualities; ca — and; phalgūn — small; bahulī-kariṣṇavaḥ — greatly magnifies; mahat-tamāḥ — the greatest persons; teṣu — among them; avidat — find; bhavān — you; agham — the fault.
TRANSLATION
Twice-born Dakṣa, a man like you can simply find fault in the qualities of others. Lord Śiva, however, not only finds no faults with others' qualities, but if someone has a little good quality, he magnifies it greatly. Unfortunately, you have found fault with such a great soul.
PURPORT
King Dakṣa is addressed here by his daughter Satī as dvija, twice-born. Twice-born refers to the higher classes of men, namely the brāhmaṇas, kṣatriyas and vaiśyas. In other words, a dvija is not an ordinary man but one who has studied the Vedic literature from a spiritual master and can discriminate between good and bad. Therefore it is supposed that he understands logic and philosophy. Satī, Dakṣa's daughter, put before him sound arguments. There are some highly qualified persons who accept only the good qualities of others. Just as a bee is always interested in the honey in the flower and does not consider the thorns and colors, highly qualified persons, who are uncommon, accept only the good qualities of others, not considering their bad qualities, whereas the common man can judge what are good qualities and what are bad qualities.
Among the uncommonly good souls there are still gradations, and the best good soul is one who accepts an insignificant asset of a person and magnifies that good quality. Lord Śiva is also called Āśutoṣa, which refers to one who is satisfied very easily and who offers to any person the highest level of benediction. For example, once a devotee of Lord Śiva wanted the benediction that whenever he touched someone on the head, that person's head would at once be separated from his trunk. Lord Śiva agreed. Although the benediction asked was not very commendable because the devotee wanted to kill his enemy, Lord Śiva considered the devotee's good quality in worshiping and satisfying him and granted the benediction. Thus Lord Śiva accepted his bad qualities as magnificently good qualities. But Satī accused her father, "You are just the opposite. Although Lord Śiva has so many good qualities and no bad qualities at all, you have accepted him as bad and found fault with him. Because of your accepting his good qualities to be bad, instead of your becoming the most exalted soul you have become the most fallen. A man becomes the greatest soul by accepting the goodness of others' qualities, but by unnecessarily considering others' good qualities to be bad, you have become the lowest of the fallen souls."