ŚB 9.8.15-16
Devanagari
असमञ्जस आत्मानं दर्शयन्नसमञ्जसम् ।
जातिस्मर: पुरा सङ्गाद् योगी योगाद् विचालित: ॥ १५ ॥
आचरन् गर्हितं लोके ज्ञातीनां कर्म विप्रियम् ।
सरय्वां क्रीडतो बालान्प्रास्यदुद्वेजयञ्जनम् ॥ १६ ॥
जातिस्मर: पुरा सङ्गाद् योगी योगाद् विचालित: ॥ १५ ॥
आचरन् गर्हितं लोके ज्ञातीनां कर्म विप्रियम् ।
सरय्वां क्रीडतो बालान्प्रास्यदुद्वेजयञ्जनम् ॥ १६ ॥
Verse text
asamañjasa ātmānaṁ
darśayann asamañjasam
jāti-smaraḥ purā saṅgād
yogī yogād vicālitaḥ
darśayann asamañjasam
jāti-smaraḥ purā saṅgād
yogī yogād vicālitaḥ
ācaran garhitaṁ loke
jñātīnāṁ karma vipriyam
sarayvāṁ krīḍato bālān
prāsyad udvejayañ janam
jñātīnāṁ karma vipriyam
sarayvāṁ krīḍato bālān
prāsyad udvejayañ janam
Synonyms
asamañjasaḥ — the son of Sagara Mahārāja; ātmānam — personally; darśayan — exhibiting; asamañjasam — very disturbing; jāti-smaraḥ — able to remember his past life; purā — formerly; saṅgāt — from bad association; yogī — although he was a great mystic yogī; yogāt — from the path of executing mystic yoga; vicālitaḥ — fell down; ācaran — behaving; garhitam — very badly; loke — in the society; jñātīnām — of his relatives; karma — activities; vipriyam — not very favorable; sarayvām — in the river Sarayū; krīḍataḥ — while engaged in sports; bālān — all the boys; prāsyat — would throw; udvejayan — giving trouble; janam — to people in general.
Translation
Formerly, in his previous birth, Asamañjasa had been a great mystic yogī, but by bad association he had fallen from his exalted position. Now, in this life, he was born in a royal family and was a jāti-smara; that is, he had the special advantage of being able to remember his past birth. Nonetheless, he wanted to display himself as a miscreant, and therefore he would do things that were abominable in the eyes of the public and unfavorable to his relatives. He would disturb the boys sporting in the river Sarayū by throwing them into the depths of the water.