Verse 2.9.237

Bengali text, Devanagari and Unicode transliteration of verse 2.9.237:

দেখি’ মূর্খ দরিদ্র যে সুজনেরে হাসে কুম্ভিপাকে যায সেই নিজ-কর্ম-দোষে ॥ ২৩৭ ॥

देखि’ मूर्ख दरिद्र ये सुजनेरे हासे कुम्भिपाके याय सेइ निज-कर्म-दोषे ॥ २३७ ॥

dekhi’ mūrkha daridra ye sujanere hāse kumbhipāke yāya sei nija-karma-doṣe || 237 ||

dekhi’ murkha daridra ye sujanere hase kumbhipake yaya sei nija-karma-dose (237)

English translation:

(237) One who ridicules a poor, uneducated saintly person goes as a result of his actions to the hell known as Kumbhīpāka.

Commentary: Gauḍīya-bhāṣya by Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura:

Those who while busy gratifying their senses out of madness see an absence of worldly opulence and worldly education in a Vaiṣṇava and on seeing that absence dare to ridicule him are as a result of their actions tortured in the hell known as Kumbhīpāka. In the Skanda Purāṇa, Mārkaṇḍeya speaks to Bhagīratha as follows:

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

“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 a Vaiṣṇava or angry with him, and whoever does not offer obeisances or feel joy upon seeing a Vaiṣṇava certainly falls into a hellish condition.”