Notes from the Bhagavatam 6
Here is more to keep in the heart. So who's property is it anyway?
"...one should not take benedictions one cannot enjoy peacefully"
Srimad Bhagavatam 7.4.2
TEXT 2
sri-brahmovaca
tateme durlabhah pumsam
yan vrnise varan mama
tathapi vitaramy anga
varan yadyapi durlabhan
SYNONYMS
sri-brahma uvaca—Lord Brahma said; tata—O dear son; ime—all these; durlabhah—very rarely obtained; pumsam—by men; yan—those which; vrnise—you ask; varan—benedictions; mama—from me; tathapi—still; vitarami—I shall deliver; anga—O Hiranyakashipu; varan—the benedictions; yadyapi—although; durlabhan—not generally available.
TRANSLATION
Lord Brahma said: O Hiranyakashipu, these benedictions for which you have asked are difficult to obtain for most men. Nonetheless, O my son, I shall grant you them although they are generally not available.
PURPORT
Material benedictions are not always exactly worthy of being called benedictions. If one possesses more and more, a benediction itself may become a curse, for just as achieving material opulence in this material world requires great strength and endeavor, maintaining it also requires great endeavor. Lord Brahma informed Hiranyakashipu that although he was ready to offer him whatever he had asked, the result of the benedictions would be very difficult for Hiranyakashipu to maintain. Nonetheless, since Brahma had promised, he wanted to grant all the benedictions asked. The word durlabhan indicates that one should not take benedictions one cannot enjoy peacefully.