“One day while travelling, Citraketu wandered into the bowers of Sumeru Mountain, where he came upon Lord Shiva embracing Parvati, surrounded by an assembly of Siddhas, Caranas and great sages. Seeing Lord Shiva in that situation, Citraketu laughed very loudly. Citraketu appreciated the exalted position of Lord Shiva, and therefore he remarked at how wonderful it was that Lord Shiva was acting like an ordinary human being. He appreciated Lord Shiva’s position, but when he saw Lord Shiva sitting in the midst of saintly persons and acting like a shameless, ordinary man, he was astonished. Although Citraketu never meant to insult Lord Shiva, he should not have criticized the lord, even though the lord was transgressing social customs. It is said, tejiyasam na dosaya: one who is very powerful should be understood to be faultless. For example, one should not find faults with the sun, although it evaporates urine from the street. The most powerful cannot be criticized by an ordinary man, or even by a great personality. Citraketu should have known that Lord Shiva, although sitting in that way, was not to be criticized. The difficulty was that Citraketu, having become a great devotee of Lord Vishnu (Sankarsana) was somewhat proud at having achieved Lord Sankarsana’s favor and therefore thought that he could now criticize anyone, even Lord Shiva. This kind of pride in a devotee is never tolerated. A Vaisnava should always remain very humble and meek and offer respect to others.

trnad api sunicena taror api sahisnuna
amanina manadena kirtaniyah sada harih

“One should chant the holy name of the Lord in a humble state of mind, thinking oneself lower than the straw in the street; one should be more tolerant than a tree, devoid of all sense of false prestige and ready to offer all respect to others. In such a state of mind one can chant the holy name of the Lord constantly.” A Vaisnava should not try to minimize anyone else’s position. It is better to remain humble and meek and chant the Hare Krishna mantra. The word nirjitatmabhimanine indicates that Citraketu thought himself a better controller of the senses than Lord Shiva, although actually he was not. Because of all these considerations, mother Parvati was somewhat angry at Citraketu.”

Source: A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada (2014 edition), “Srimad Bhagavatam”, Sixth Canto, Chapter 17 – Introduction and Text 07 & 10

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