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ŚB 11.22.61

Devanagari

सुदु:सहमिमं मन्ये आत्मन्यसदतिक्रमम् ।
विदुषामपि विश्वात्मन् प्रकृतिर्हि बलीयसी ।
ऋते त्वद्धर्मनिरतान् शान्तांस्ते चरणालयान् ॥ ६१ ॥

Text

su-duḥsaham imaṁ manya
ātmany asad-atikramam
viduṣām api viśvātman
prakṛtir hi balīyasī
ṛte tvad-dharma-niratān
śāntāṁs te caraṇālayān

Synonyms

su-duḥsaham — most difficult to tolerate; imam — this; manye — I consider; ātmani — upon oneself; asat — by ignorant people; atikramam — the attacks; viduṣām — for those who are learned; api — even; viśva-ātman — O soul of the universe; prakṛtiḥ — one’s conditioned personality; hi — certainly; balīyasī — very strong; ṛte — except for; tvat-dharma — in Your devotional service; niratān — those who are fixed; śāntān — peaceful; te — Your; caraṇa-ālayān — who reside at the lotus feet.

Translation

O soul of the universe, the conditioning of one’s personality in material life is very strong, and therefore it is very difficult even for learned men to tolerate the offenses committed against them by ignorant people. Only Your devotees, who are fixed in Your loving service and who have achieved peace by residing at Your lotus feet, are able to tolerate such offenses.

Purport

Unless one becomes advanced in the process of hearing and chanting the glories of the Supreme Lord, theoretical learning cannot make one actually saintly. One’s conditioned personality, the result of long material association, is very difficult to overcome. Therefore we should humbly take shelter of the lotus feet of the Supreme Lord, who has so wonderfully explained to Śrī Uddhava the real meaning of knowledge.

Thus end the purports of the humble servants of His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda to the Eleventh Canto, Twenty-second Chapter, of the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, entitled “Enumeration of the Elements of Material Creation.”