Shloka 4
Nimi Questions the Yogendras: Varṇāśrama’s Purpose, Ritualism’s Fall, and Yuga-Avatāras with Kali-yuga Saṅkīrtana
दूरे हरिकथा: केचिद् दूरे चाच्युतकीर्तना: । स्त्रिय: शूद्रादयश्चैव तेऽनुकम्प्या भवादृशाम् ॥ ४ ॥
dūre hari-kathāḥ kecid dūre cācyuta-kīrtanāḥ striyaḥ śūdrādayaś caiva te ’nukampyā bhavādṛśām
ဟရီကഥာမှ ဝေးကွာသူများလည်း ရှိပြီး၊ အချျုတ၏ ကီර්တနမှလည်း ဝေးကွာသူများ ရှိသည်။ မိန်းမများ၊ ရှုဒ္ဒရများ စသည့်သူတို့သည် သင်ကဲ့သို့ မဟာပုရుషတို့၏ ကရုဏာကို ခံယူထိုက်သူများဖြစ်သည်။
In the previous verse it was explained that some persons are ignorant of the glories of the Personality of Godhead ( na bhajanti ), whereas others, although aware of the Lord, ridicule Him or state that the Lord is also material ( avajānanti ). In this verse the first class, namely the ignorant, are described as fit candidates for the mercy of a pure devotee. The word dūre indicates those who have little opportunity to hear and chant the glories of the Lord. According to Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura they can be explained as ye sādhu-saṅga-bhāgya-hīnāḥ, those who are bereft of the association of saintly persons and pure devotees. Generally, those who are advanced in the spiritual science of Kṛṣṇa consciousness avoid contact with women and low-class men. In general, women are lusty, and śūdras and other low-class men are habitually addicted to materialistic habits such as smoking, drinking and woman hunting. Therefore, Caitanya Mahāprabhu warned the sādhus, or saintly persons, to avoid intimate connection with women and low-class men. The practical result of such a restriction is that women and lower-class men are often bereft of the opportunity to hear the glories of the Lord chanted by saintly persons; thus Śrī Camasa Muni instructs the King that he should especially give his mercy to such fallen persons.
FAQs
This verse states that those who remain distant from Hari-katha and the glorification of Acyuta are especially to be met with compassion by saintly devotees, who seek to bring them toward devotional hearing and chanting.
In the Bhagavatam’s bhakti framework, hearing and chanting are primary means of purification; therefore, those deprived of such association are spiritually disadvantaged and become proper recipients of a devotee’s mercy and guidance.
Instead of judging people uninterested in spiritual topics, show kindness—share Krishna-katha gently, invite them to kirtana or uplifting discussions, and support accessible ways for them to connect with devotion.