Srimad Bhagavatam — Dashama Skandha, Shloka 2
The Deliverance of Nalakūvara and Maṇigrīva
Yamala-Arjuna Līlā Prelude and Culmination
श्रीशुक उवाच रुद्रस्यानुचरौ भूत्वा सुदृप्तौ धनदात्मजौ । कैलासोपवने रम्ये मन्दाकिन्यां मदोत्कटौ ॥ २ ॥ वारुणीं मदिरां पीत्वा मदाघूर्णितलोचनौ । स्त्रीजनैरनुगायद्भिश्चेरतु: पुष्पिते वने ॥ ३ ॥
śrī-śuka uvāca rudrasyānucarau bhūtvā sudṛptau dhanadātmajau kailāsopavane ramye mandākinyāṁ madotkaṭau
Śukadeva Gosvāmī said: O King Parīkṣit, because the two sons of Kuvera had been elevated to the association of Lord Śiva, of which they were very much proud, they were allowed to wander in a garden attached to Kailāsa Hill, on the bank of the Mandākinī River. Taking advantage of this, they used to drink a kind of liquor called Vāruṇī. Accompanied by women singing after them, they would wander in that garden of flowers, their eyes always rolling in intoxication.
This verse mentions some of the material advantages afforded to persons associated with or devoted to Lord Śiva. Apart from Lord Śiva, if one is a devotee of any other demigod, one receives some material advantages. Foolish people, therefore, become devotees of demigods. This has been pointed out and criticized by Lord Kṛṣṇa in Bhagavad-gītā (7.20) : kāmais tais tair hṛta jñānāḥ prapadyante ’nya-devatāḥ. Those who are not devotees of Kṛṣṇa have a taste for women, wine and so forth, and therefore they have been described as hṛta jñāna, bereft of sense. The Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement can very easily point out such foolish persons, for they have been indicated in Bhagavad-gītā (7.15) , where Lord Kṛṣṇa says:
FAQs
They are Nalakuvara and Maṇigrīva, described here as Kuvera’s sons who became proud after attaining the status of attendants of Lord Śiva.
The verse highlights how elevated position can breed arrogance; such pride becomes the seed of suffering and sets the stage for corrective mercy later in the narrative.
By treating status and privilege as responsibility, cultivating humility, and avoiding intoxication—both literal and the subtler intoxication of pride.