ŚB 9.13.5
Devanagari
निमि: प्रतिददौ शापं गुरवेऽधर्मवर्तिने ।
तवापि पतताद् देहो लोभाद्धर्ममजानत: ॥ ५ ॥
तवापि पतताद् देहो लोभाद्धर्ममजानत: ॥ ५ ॥
Verse text
nimiḥ pratidadau śāpaṁ
gurave ’dharma-vartine
tavāpi patatād deho
lobhād dharmam ajānataḥ
gurave ’dharma-vartine
tavāpi patatād deho
lobhād dharmam ajānataḥ
Synonyms
nimiḥ — Mahārāja Nimi; pratidadau śāpam — countercursed; gurave — unto his spiritual master, Vasiṣṭha; adharma-vartine — who was induced to irreligious principles (because he cursed his offenseless disciple); tava — of you; api — also; patatāt — let it fall; dehaḥ — the body; lobhāt — because of greed; dharmam — religious principles; ajānataḥ — not knowing.
Translation
For unnecessarily cursing him when he had committed no offense, Mahārāja Nimi countercursed his spiritual master. “For the sake of getting contributions from the King of heaven,” he said, “you have lost your religious intelligence. Therefore I pronounce this curse: your body also will fall.”
Purport
The religious principle for a brāhmaṇa is that he should not be greedy at all. In this case, however, for the sake of more lucrative remunerations from the King of heaven, Vasiṣṭha neglected Mahārāja Nimi’s request on this planet, and when Nimi performed the sacrifices with other priests, Vasiṣṭha unnecessarily cursed him. When one is infected by contaminated activities, his power, material or spiritual, reduces. Although Vasiṣṭha was the spiritual master of Mahārāja Nimi, because of his greed he became fallen.