Verse 2.3.172

Sanskrit text, Unicode transliteration, Word-for-word and English translation of verse 2.3.172:

दुःसङ्ग-दोषं भरतादयो यथा दुर्दूत-दोषं च युधिष्ठिरादयाः ।
ब्रह्म-स्व-भीतिं च नृगादयोऽमलाः प्रादर्शयन् स्व-व्यवहारतो जनान् ॥ १७२ ॥

duḥsaṅga-doṣaṃ bharatādayo yathā durdūta-doṣaṃ ca yudhiṣṭhirādayāḥ |
brahma-sva-bhītiṃ ca nṛgādayo'malāḥ prādarśayan sva-vyavahārato janān || 172 ||

duḥsaṅga–of bad association; doṣam–the fault; bharata-ādayaḥ–beginning with King Bharata; yathā–as; durdyūta-doṣam–the faults related to the evils of gambling; ca–and; yudhiṣṭhira-ādayaḥ–beginning with Yudhiṣṭhira; brahma-sva–of taking a brāhmaṇa’s property; bhītim–fear; ca–and; nṛga-ādayaḥ–beginning with King Nṛga; amalāḥ–pure; prādarśayan–showed; sva-vyavahārataḥ–by their own behavior; janān–the people.

For example, even though devotees such as Mahārāja Bharata were thoroughly pure at heart, they demonstrated the fault of bad association. Śrī Yudhiṣṭhira Mahārāja, being the embodiment of dharma (Dharmarāja), exhibited the mistake of gambling, and the sinless King Nṛga and others displayed the sin of stealing from a brāhmaṇa, all just to give instruction to the common people.

Commentary: Dig-darśinī-ṭīkā with Bhāvānuvāda

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

In this verse beginning with duḥsaṅga, the Vaikuṇṭha associates give examples of how devotees show the unfavorable results of taking bad association. They say, “Although a devotee such as Bharata Mahārāja was pure-hearted, just for the purpose of instruction, he personally raised a baby deer, and due to his apparent attachment, took birth in a lower species. In this way, he demonstrated the consequences of wrong association.” The word ādi, meaning ‘others,’ indicates devotees such as Saubhari Muni. “All of them were pure-hearted and free from defects, but they acted improperly just to instruct the entire world.”