Verse 1.8.88

Bengali text, Devanagari and Unicode transliteration of verse 1.8.88:

ন যত্র শ্রবণাদীনি রক্ষো-ঘ্নানি স্ব-কর্মসু কুর্বন্তি সাত্বতাং ভর্তুর্ যাতুধান্যশ্ চ তত্র হি ॥ ৮৮ ॥

न यत्र श्रवणादीनि रक्षो-घ्नानि स्व-कर्मसु कुर्वन्ति सात्वतां भर्तुर् यातुधान्यश् च तत्र हि ॥ ८८ ॥

na yatra śravaṇādīni rakṣo-ghnāni sva-karmasu kurvanti sātvatāṃ bhartur yātudhānyaś ca tatra hi || 88 ||

na yatra sravanadini rakso-ghnani sva-karmasu kurvanti satvatam bhartur yatudhanyas ca tatra hi (88)

English translation:

(88) My dear King, wherever people in any position perform their occupational duties of devotional service by chanting and hearing [śravaṇaṃ kīrtanaṃ viṣṇoḥ], there cannot be any danger from bad

elements. Therefore there was no need for anxiety about Gokula while the Supreme Personality of Godhead was personally present.

Commentary: Gauḍīya-bhāṣya by Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura:

When Mahārāja Parīkṣit heard that the fearful child-killer Pūtanā wandered through various villages killing children on the order of Kaṃsa, he was full of anxiety for Kṛṣṇa. At that time Śrī Śukadeva Gosvāmī spoke this verse in order to relieve the king’s anxiety.

This verse was spoken by Śukadeva Gosvāmī to the apprehensive Parīkṣit Mahārāja to confirm that since Pūtanā was engaged in sinful activities, she would certainly die. Places where the hearing and chanting of Kṛṣṇa’s names are not present are full of demoniac influence, but wherever the Lord is present there is no question of fear. (Śrīdhara Svāmī)

After hearing that Pūtanā was roaming about killing children, one may fearfully inquire, “Alas, what was the position of the other baby boys in Śrī Nanda’s village?” Śrī Śukadeva spoke this verse in answer to this question. If one indirectly hears and chants the names of Kṛṣṇa in the course of performing one’s occupational duties like sacrifices, then one can never be exploited by demonesses; and if one directly hears and chants the names of Kṛṣṇa, then there no question of any influence from them. The word sātvata, or the Lord of the devotees, confirms that what to speak of the hearing and chanting the Lord’s names, even hearing and chanting the names of His devotees destroys all demoniac influences. The demons exhibit their influence only in places where the Lord’s names are not heard or chanted. The meaning of this verse can also be as follows: One may raise the doubt—“Were all the children of that time killed by Pūtanā or not?” Śrī Śukadeva Gosvāmī spoke this verse in answer to this question. The above purport is applicable here. Other than the baby boys who heard and chanted Kṛṣṇa’s names, the Lord had Pūtanā kill all those who were averse to Him and belonging to Kaṃsa’s party. The foolishness of Kaṃsa is displayed in this incident. In spite of the Lord’s personal presence, the arrival of wicked Pūtanā in Vraja and her disturbances there

were only to nourish the pastimes of the Lord, which give pleasure to the entire world and increase the love and affection of the Vrajavāsīs headed by Yaśodā. These incidents are all arranged by the Lord’s līlā-śakti, or pleasure potencies. The word līlā-śakti here refers to one of the three principle energies in Vaikuṇṭha and Vṛndādevī in Vṛndāvana. (Śrī Jīva Gosvāmī’s Laghu-toṣaṇī)

This verse was spoken by Śrī Śukadeva to the anxious Mahārāja Parīkṣit to confirm that since Pūtanā was engaged in sinful activities, she would certainly die. Villages and cities where persons are engaged in fruitive activities that are fructified or unfructified and are devoid of hearing or chanting the names of Kṛṣṇa, who is the Lord of the devotees, are influenced by demonesses. Such demonesses cannot disturb a place where hearing and chanting about Kṛṣṇa is the main activity, and where hearing and chanting about Kṛṣṇa is the only activity it is impossible for them to create any mischief. What then can be said about the place where the Lord is personally present? (Śrī Viśvanātha Cakravartī’s Sārārtha- darśinī)