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Smart Quote of the Day, July 15, 2015

" . . . if someone becomes a pure Vaishnava, or devotee of the Lord, ten generations of his family before his birth and ten generations after will be liberated."

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Today's Smart Quote is from Krishna, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Chapter Sixty-four, The Story of King Nriga:

At this time, Lord Krishna was present among His relatives who were members of the kshatriya class. To teach them through the exemplary character of King Nriga, He said, “Even though a kshatriya king may be as powerful as fire, it is not possible for him to usurp the property of a brahmana and utilize it for his own purpose. If this is so, how can ordinary kings, who falsely think themselves the most powerful beings within the material world, usurp a brahmana’s property?

"I do not think that taking poison is as dangerous as taking a brahmana’s property. For ordinary poison there is treatment—one can be relieved from its effects—but if one drinks the poison of taking a brahmana’s property, there is no remedy for the mistake. The perfect example is King Nriga. He was very powerful and very pious, but due to the small mistake of unknowingly usurping a brahmana’s cow, he was condemned to the abominable life of a lizard.

"Ordinary poison affects only those who drink it, and ordinary fire can be extinguished simply by pouring water on it, but the arani fire ignited by the spiritual potency of a brahmana who is dissatisfied can burn to ashes the whole family of a person who provokes such a brahmana. [Formerly, the brahmanas used to ignite the fire of sacrifice not with matches or any other external fire but with their powerful mantras, called arani.] If someone even touches a brahmana’s property, his family is ruined for three generations. However, if a brahmana’s property is forcibly taken away, the taker’s family for ten generations before him and ten generations after will be subject to ruination. On the other hand, if someone becomes a pure Vaishnava, or devotee of the Lord, ten generations of his family before his birth and ten generations after will be liberated.”