Verse 1.2.18

Sanskrit text, Unicode transliteration, Word-for-word and English translation of verse 1.2.18:

स्पर्धासूयादि-दोषेण ब्रह्म-हत्यादि-पापतः ।
नित्य-पात-भयेनापि किं सुखं स्वर्ग-वासिनाम् ॥ १८ ॥

spardhāsūyādi-doṣeṇa brahma-hatyādi-pāpataḥ |
nitya-pāta-bhayenāpi kiṃ sukhaṃ svarga-vāsinām || 18 ||

In the celestial plane there are always various kinds of faults such as envy and rivalry, particularly the sinful act of the killing of a brāhmaṇa, and the omnipresent fear of plummeting down from our present posts. Therefore, where is the happiness of the celestial residents?

Commentary: Dig-darśinī-ṭīkā with Bhāvānuvāda

(By Śrīla Sanātana Gosvāmī himself including a deep purport of that commentary)

“The demigods are daily being worshipped by humankind…” Refuting these glories in the previous spoken verses, Indra continues to describe the celestial residents as being faced with such acts as rivalry and envy (spardhā).

In the celestial plane, aggressive faults such as rivalry and envy are all present. This nullifies the virtuous (sāttvika) atmosphere of the celestial plane. By the killing of such brāhmaṇa demons as Viśvarūpa and Vṛtrāsura, Lord Indra incurred the sin of killing a brāhmaṇa (brahma-hatyā); henceforth, the sinlessness of the celestial residents has also been refuted.

Due to the fear of constantly falling down from their posts, the attractiveness of their luminous bodies (tejomaya śarīra) is also not so praiseworthy.

The Eleventh Canto (Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam or Bhāgavata Purāṇa 11.10.20) states:

कोन्व् अर्थः सुखयत्य् एनं कामो वा मृत्युर् अन्तिके
आघातं नीयमानस्य वध्यस्येव न तुष्टि-दः

konv arthaḥ sukhayaty enaṃ kāmo vā mṛtyur antike
āghātaṃ nīyamānasya vadhyasyeva na tuṣṭi-daḥ

“What person whose death is dangling over him can be satisfied by wealth, or anything obtained by wealth? Nowhere is it possible. What person can be happy with the sweetest things of this world? Nowhere is it possible.”

In this way, the contrast between the demigods and the greater portion of humankind is shown. The deep import of this is that such activities as daily worship of the demigods is never appropriate.