SB 01.07.35 mainam partharhasi tratum... cited

Expressions researched:
"avadhin nisi balakan" |"brahma-bandhum imam jahi" |"mainam partharhasi tratum" |"yo sav anagasah suptan"

SB Canto 1

SB 1.7.35, Translation and Purport:

Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa said: O Arjuna, you should not show mercy by releasing this relative of a brāhmaṇa (brahma-bandhu), for he has killed innocent boys in their sleep.

The word brahma-bandhu is significant. A person who happens to take birth in the family of a brāhmaṇa but is not qualified to be called a brāhmaṇa is addressed as the relative of a brāhmaṇa, and not as a brāhmaṇa. The son of a high-court judge is not virtually a high-court judge, but there is no harm in addressing a high-court judge's son as a relative of the Honorable Justice. Therefore, as by birth only one does not become a high-court judge, so also one does not become a brāhmaṇa simply by birthright but by acquiring the necessary qualifications of a brāhmaṇa. As the high-court judgeship is a post for the qualified man, so also the post of a brāhmaṇa is attainable by qualification only. The śāstra enjoins that even if good qualifications are seen in a person born in a family other than that of a brāhmaṇa, the qualified man has to be accepted as a brāhmaṇa, and similarly if a person born in the family of a brāhmaṇa is void of brahminical qualification, then he must be treated as a non-brāhmaṇa or, in better terms, a relative of a brāhmaṇa. Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa, the supreme authority of all religious principles, the Vedas, has personally pointed out these differences, and He is about to explain the reason for this in the following ślokas.

Srimad-Bhagavatam Lectures

Lecture on SB 1.7.34-35 -- Vrndavana, September 28, 1976:

Pradyumna: "After binding Aśvatthāmā, Arjuna wanted to take him to the military camp. The Personality of Godhead Śrī Kṛṣṇa, looking on with His lotus eyes, spoke to angry Arjuna. Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa said: O Arjuna, you should not show mercy by releasing this relative of a brāhmaṇa (brahma-bandhu), for he has killed innocent boys in their sleep."

Prabhupāda:

śibirāya ninīṣantaṁ

rajjvā baddhvā ripuṁ balāt

prāhārjunaṁ prakupito

bhagavān ambujekṣaṇaḥ

(SB 1.7.34)

mainaṁ pārthārhasi trātuṁ

brahma-bandhum imaṁ jahi

yo 'sāv anāgasaḥ suptān

avadhīn niśi bālakān

(SB 1.7.35)

So bhagavān ambujekṣaṇaḥ. Ambuja means lotus flower. Bhagavān is described in many places as ambujekṣa-lotus-eyed, lotus feet, lotus navel, in so many ways, lotus palms. So ambujekṣaṇa, very beautiful eyes like the petals of a padma, lotus flower. But at the same time, prakupita, He's angry. He's angry. Still, ambujekṣaṇa. Not that as the Māyāvādīs think, that "God is kind. Why He should be angry?" But here it is said, prakupita. Pra means "specifically." Prakṛṣṭa-rūpeṇa kupitaḥ, "very angry." Prakupita. And He was, rather, glad that this Aśvatthāmā, who happens to be the son of a brāhmaṇa... Still, He was angry. He asked him not to excuse this rascal. Not to excuse. It is next verse, it is said, mainaṁ pārthārhasi trātuṁ brahma-bandhum imaṁ jahi. He's brahma-bandhu. He's not a brāhmaṇa. He's brahma-bandhu. Everyone can say, "I am the son of a brāhmaṇa." That is brahma-bandhu. Or a friend of a brāhmaṇa. That does not mean he is a brāhmaṇa. This is the idea. Brāhmaṇa is not the body. Brāhmaṇa is the quality. If the brāhmaṇa is body, then when a brāhmaṇa is dead the sons take the dead body to the crematorium place and burn the body. Then if the body is brāhmaṇa, then the sons are committing sins by brahma-hatyā. No. That is not brahma-hatyā. Brāhmaṇa is the quality. That quality is gone. With the departure of the soul, that quality is gone. Now this body is simply a lump of matter, so there is no shame when the body is burnt into ashes.

Lecture on SB 1.7.34-35 -- Vrndavana, September 28, 1976:

The idea is that, as described in the śāstra, who is a brāhmaṇa, who is a śūdra, who is a kṣatriya, who is a vaiśya... It is all described in the Bhagavad-gītā. So satyaṁ śamo damas titikṣā ārjavam, jñānaṁ vijñānam āstikyaṁ brahma-karma svabhāva-jam (BG 18.42). Karma, guṇa and karma. Here Aśvatthāmā, although he's born of a brāhmaṇa father, he did not possess the quality of a brāhmaṇa, neither the work of a brāhmaṇa. He degraded himself. First of all, he was engaged as a soldier to assist, to flatter Duryodhana. He wanted to please Duryodhana by killing the Pāṇḍavas. But he was such a fool, instead of killing the Pāṇḍavas, he killed the five sleeping sons of the Pāṇḍavas. How much abominable he is, just imagine. Here it is said, suptān avadhīn niśi bālakān. First of all, they were minor aged, and they were sleeping, and they were killed at night. Just see. What kind of brāhmaṇa he is! A brāhmaṇa's business is not to kill. Even brāhmaṇa can kill, he doesn't require even sword or any other weapon. Simply by cursing he can kill—brāhmaṇa was so powerful. But still, it is not the business of a brāhmaṇa. When killing is required, it is done by the kṣatriyas, not by the brāhmaṇas. Just like Viśvāmitra Muni, he was disturbed by the Tāḍakā rākṣasī. He was quite powerful. Even by cursing he could kill this Tāḍakā rākṣasī in the forest, but he did not do so. For killing the rākṣasī he approached Mahārāja Daśaratha. Because he is kṣatriya, he is the king. His business is to give protection to the disturbed citizens. Just like we apply to the magistrate, similarly the king is responsible. So he did not kill. Viśvāmitra formerly was kṣatriya, but since he became brāhmaṇa... By his endeavor in lifetime, he became a brāhmaṇa, a great sage, ṛṣi. So since he became brāhmaṇa, he was not interested in killing anyone. That is not brāhmaṇa's business. Brāhmaṇa's business is śamo damas titikṣā. Even if he is disturbed by somebody, titikṣā, he tolerates. Kāma-rūpa-tapasvin. He does not become... And when it is intolerable, he approaches the kṣatriya.