guṇādhikān mudaṁ lipsed anukrośaṁ guṇādhamāt

maitrīṁ samānād anvicchen na tāpair abhibhūyate 4.8.34

SYNONYMS

guṇa-adhikāt—one who is more qualified; mudam—pleasure; lipset—one should feel;anukrośam—compassion; guṇa-adhamāt—one who is less qualified; maitrīm—friendship;samānāt—with an equal; anvicchet—one should desire; na—not; tāpaiḥ—by tribulation; abhibhūyate—becomes affected.

TRANSLATION

Every man should act like this: when he meets a person more qualified than himself,he should be very pleased; when he meets someone less qualified than himself, he should be compassionate toward him; and when he meets someone equal to himself, he should make friendship with him. In this way one is never affected by the threefold miseries of this material world.

PURPORT

Generally when we find someone more qualified than ourselves, we become envious of him; when we find someone less qualified, we deride him; and when we find someone equal we become very proud of our activities. These are the causes of all material tribulations. The great sage Nārada therefore advised that a devotee should act perfectly. We are representing Krishna. We should also behave like Krishna wants. By Becoming a friend of everyone. Instead of being envious of a more qualified man, one should be jolly to receive him. Instead of being oppressive to a less qualified man, one should be compassionate toward him just to raise him to the proper standard. And when one meets an equal, instead of being proud of one & own activities before him, one should treat him as a friend. One should also have compassion for the people in general, who are suffering due to forgetfulness of Kṛṣṇa. These important functions will make one happy within this material world. SB 4.8.34

In this verse Narada Muni says, “Every man should act like this.” By such behavior there will be no miseries at all. This world will be urned into vaikuṇṭha, a place with no anxiety. There should be no enviousness. Kāma, krodha, lobha, moha, mada, mātsarya. This enviousness, mātsarya, is one of our six enemies

Srimad Bhagavatam is Krishna himself

Caitanya-caritāmṛta (madhya 24.318) states that ŚrīmadBhāgavatam is unlimited:

kṛṣṇa-tulya bhāgavata — vibhu, sarvāśraya

prati-śloke prati-akṣare nānā artha kaya

Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam is as great as Krishna, the Supreme Lord and shelter of everything. In each and every verse of Śrīmad- Bhāgavatam and in each and every syllable, there are various meanings.

Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam is as good as Krishna. It is not different from Krishna. This is described by Thakur Vrindavan Das in Caitanya-bhāgavata (antya 3.516):

premamaya bhāgavata śrī-kṛṣṇera aṅga

tahate kahena yata gopya kṛṣṇa-raṅga

bhāgavata śrī-kṛṣṇera aṇga — Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam is the body of Krishna. tahate kahena yata gopya kṛṣṇa-raṅga — All confidential,

sweet pastimes are described here. Krishna is vibhu, the Supreme Lord, and He is ananta, unlimited. Similarly, Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam is also vibhu and ananta, the unlimited Supreme Lord. If we simply follow that verse by Narada muni

The second verse of Bhāgavatam says,

dharmaḥ projjhita-kaitavo ‘tra paramo nirmatsarāṇāṁ satāṁ vedyam.

Who can understand?

what is said in Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam — bhāgavata-dharma-tattva? Transcedental religious principles. Bhāgavata-dharma, Sanatana Dharma, bhakti-dharma, and bhāgavata-sevā-dharma are different names for the proper religious principle.To serve Kṛṣṇa and His devotees is a proper religious principle. Apart from this, everything else is temporary or conditioned dharma, or even an improper religious principle.

Devotional service to the Lord is the soul’s eternal occupational duty, and that is why it is called a “proper religious principle.” Bhāgavata-dharma has no contradictions. Conceptions of "your religion" and "my religion" are completely absent from bhāgavata- dharma. Bhāgavata-dharma means following the orders given by the Supreme Lord, Bhagavān, as stated in Bhagavad-gītā: sarva- dharmān parityajya mām ekaṁ śaraṇaṁ vraja [Bg. 18.66]. God is one, and God is for everyone. Therefore everyone must surrender to God. That is the pure conception of religion. Whatever God orders constitutes religion (dharmaṁ tu sākṣād bhagavat-praṇītam [SB 6.3.19]). In bhāgavata-dharma there is no question of & quot; what you believe & quot; and & quot ;what I believe .& quot; Everyone must believe in the Supreme Lord and carry out His orders. Ānukūlyena kṛṣṇānuśīlanam: [Cc. Madhya 19.167]

whatever Kṛṣṇa says—whatever God says—should be directly carried out. That isdharma, religion. If one is actually Kṛṣṇa conscious, he cannot have any enemies. Since his only engagement is to induce others to surrender to Kṛṣṇa, or God, how can he have enemies?Ajamila heard the principles of Bhagavata Dharma from the Vishnu Dutas on the death bed. And perfected his life.

Only devotees who are not envious at all — paramo nirmatsarāṇām — can understand. Otherwise the Bhāgavata will never manifest at all. This most important point is the purpose for which Srila Prabhupada formed the International Society for Krishna Consciousness. “The Krishna consciousness movement aims at creating an atmosphere of non-envy. Of course, it is not possible for everyone to become Krishna conscious, but the Krishna movement can create an exemplary society wherein there is no envy.” Prabhupada wanted all members to be pure vaiṣṇavas, in the true sense. A vaiṣṇava is nirmatsara, non-envious.

What is my situation?

In Śaraṇāgati (1.4), Bhaktivinode Thakur, who is considered the Seventh Goswami, has explained our situation very well he said: Sadhus help us understand our situation.

I am such a rascal, such an envious person. I always give pain to others and put them in anxiety. I am very selfish. My only concern is for my own happiness, name, fame, adoration and prestige. I am not afraid of committing any sinful activity. dayā-hīna — I am a merciless person. When I see someone becoming more advanced than me, it is very painful. I become envious. sadā-mithya — I speak only lies. Para-duḥkha sukha-kara When I see someone suffering, I become jolly.

There are unlimited material desires in my heart. I get angry on the slightest pretext. dambha-parāyaṇa, I am an extremely proud, puffed-up fellow. “I am great! Is there anyone greater than I?” In Kali-yuga, the most degraded age, pride is the measuring rod between people. One man thinks, “I am great!” When another man hears that he will say, “What? You are great? I am great!” Then fighting begins. Two people quarrel, two groups quarrel, two states, two nations. This is due to dambha — pride. I am always puffed-up and proud, intoxicated with the desire for material enjoyment. I am a great materialist who is hiṁsā-garva, always envious and proud. These qualities are my ornaments, vibhūṣaṇa.

I am a lazy fellow who sleeps too much and never does any good work. I am always enthusiastic to perform evil, abominable acts for my own prestige. Sāṭhya-ācaraṇa, I am duplicitous. Lobha-hata sadā kāmī, there is so much lust in my heart. e hena durjana I am a most wicked person, saj-jana- varjita,rejected by elevated souls. My dealings are crooked and duplicitous. I am always a great offender. I have rejected auspicious behavior and am covered with so many unwanted things. Thus, I am always afflicted by the threefold miseries of the material world. This is the statement of Narada Muni, “Every man should act like this: when he meets a person more qualified than himself, he should be very pleased; when he meets someone less qualified than himself, he should be compassionate toward him; and when he meets someone equal to himself, he should make friendshipwith him.”Otherwise, he’ll suffer. “In this way one is never affected by the threefold miseries of this world.” This is the statement of sādhu- śāstra-mahājanas.

Srila Prabhupada delivered the English language

If you dive deep, deeper, to the deepest region of the ocean, you can collect invaluable gems. One of the synonyms for ocean is ratnākara, or ratna-garbhā. Ratna means invaluable gems, and these are found in the garbha, belly, of the ocean. But who cancollect them? Only one who dives very deep, to the deepest region, can collect these gems. If you float on the surface, you will collect only fish.

Similarly, Bhāgavatam is an unlimited ocean, and you have to dive deep into it. Srila A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada said, “Everything is in my books.” He has given everything,

Prabhupada’s purports need explanation. The Bhaktivedanta purports are unique. Vaiṣṇava philosophy is not easy to describe. It is a very subtle and most sublime philosophy. It is a very difficult philosophy. Prabhupada explained it in a very nice easy language. Srila Prabhupada is especially empowered, a śaktyāveśa-avatāra sent by Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu. Otherwise no one can give such a thing as he has done.

Srimad Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Goswami Prabhupada Maharaja has explained vaiṣṇava philosophy, but you cannot understand his words. His language is so difficult you cannot enter into it. This vaiṣṇava philosophy is very difficult because it has it’s own specific language. But Srila Prabhupada, our revered spiritual master, was an especially empowered person, and he explained it in the English language. It is very difficult to explain in English language. Many times the English language has no words to properly convey the meanings. In this purport Prabhupada tried his best to translate the ideas into English, but sometimes he just used the original Sanskrit words because you cannot find the English equivalent.

New message for the jivas

The Bhāgavata carries a completely new message for the jīvas of Kali-yuga. All of the śāstras instruct us to do bhāgavata-bhajana. But the Bhāgavatam says something more than that. The Bhāgavatam says, “Hey, jīva! You have no ability to do bhajana. You have no qualification to call Krishna.” The Bhāgavatam says, “Open your ear! Listen to Me! How will you call Krishna? You should listen to how Krishna is calling you! Krishnas heart is splitting for you! You are not crying for Krishna, He is crying for you! He is calling you!”

In Brahma Bimohana lila Krishna is looking for the calf and boys…He comes to this material world for attracting the conditioned soul. That is his mission and so is the mission of Srimad Bhagavatam.

The deity of the Bhāgavata is muralīdhara Krishna. Muralīdhara Krishna is holding His flute and calling you, “Come to Me, come to Me, come to Me!” Are you listening? Have you ears? sarva-bhūta- manoharam — Krishna’s flute captivates the minds of all living entities.1 You cannot call Him, therefore He is calling you. You cannot go to Him, therefore He comes to you. He comes down to this material world to you! Holding a flute, mohanā-vāṁsuriyā, He is calling you. This is the most wonderful message of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam.

Just like Krishna calls gopis similarly Bhagavatam calls sincere devotees. The Bhāgavata says, “Who am I?” nigama-kalpa-taror-galita-phala “I am the most ripened, sweetest, nectarean juicy fruit of the Vedic tree.” So the Bhāgavata has appeared here and muralīdhara Krishna, leaving Golok Vrindavan, has come down here to the Gokul of Vrajabhumi, on the bank of the Yamuna, Kalindi. This message fills all the pages of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam.

How has Bhagavatam saved people?

Maharaja Parikshit heard Srimad Bhagavatam from Sukadeva Goswami and was delivered from the cycle of birth and death.

Dhundukari because of his sinful activities became a ghost but he got fortune to hear Srimad Bhagavatam from Gokarna and was delivered from the cycle of birth and death.