Shloka 5
Ajāmila Delivered: Viṣṇudūtas Establish the Supremacy of the Holy Name
यस्याङ्के शिर आधाय लोक: स्वपिति निर्वृत: । स्वयं धर्ममधर्मं वा न हि वेद यथा पशु: ॥ ५ ॥ स कथं न्यर्पितात्मानं कृतमैत्रमचेतनम् । विस्रम्भणीयो भूतानां सघृणो दोग्धुमर्हति ॥ ६ ॥
yasyāṅke śira ādhāya lokaḥ svapiti nirvṛtaḥ svayaṁ dharmam adharmaṁ vā na hi veda yathā paśuḥ
Das Volk schläft beruhigt, den Kopf im Schoß seines Herrn, und kennt den Unterschied zwischen Dharma und Adharma nicht, wie ein Tier. Wenn ein Führer wahrhaft mitfühlend und des Vertrauens würdig ist, wie könnte er den Toren bestrafen oder töten, der sich in guter Absicht und Freundschaft ergeben hat?
The Sanskrit word viśvasta-ghāta refers to one who breaks faith or causes a breach of trust. The mass of people should always feel security because of the government’s protection. Therefore, how regrettable it is for the government itself to cause a breach of trust and put the citizens in difficulty for political reasons. We actually saw during the partition days in India that although Hindus and Muslims were living together peacefully, manipulation by politicians suddenly aroused feelings of hatred between them, and thus the Hindus and Muslims killed one another over politics. This is a sign of Kali-yuga. In this age, animals are kept nicely sheltered, completely confident that their masters will protect them, but unfortunately as soon as the animals are fat, they are immediately sent for slaughter. Such cruelty is condemned by Vaiṣṇavas like the Viṣṇudūtas. Indeed, the hellish conditions already described await the sinful men responsible for such suffering. One who betrays the confidence of a living entity who takes shelter of him in good faith, whether that living entity be a human being or an animal, is extremely sinful. Because such betrayals now go unpunished by the government, all of human society is terribly contaminated. The people of this age are therefore described as mandāḥ sumanda-matayo manda-bhāgyā hy upadrutāḥ. As a consequence of such sinfulness, men are condemned ( mandāḥ ), their intelligence is unclear ( sumanda-matayaḥ ), they are unfortunate ( manda-bhāgyāḥ ), and therefore they are always disturbed by many problems ( upadrutāḥ ). This is their situation in this life, and after death they are punished in hellish conditions.
FAQs
This verse warns that without conscious spiritual discernment, a person may live comfortably yet remain ignorant of right and wrong—like an animal acting by instinct.
Because one who does not reflect on dharma versus adharma lives by impulse and habit, not by awakened moral and spiritual intelligence.
Regularly examine choices through śāstra-guided values—truthfulness, self-restraint, compassion—rather than comfort, peer pressure, or impulse.