Shloka : 35

अपमानो न कर्तव्यो गुरुणां च वरीयसाम् ।

लोके प्रतिष्ठितानां च विदुषां शस्त्रधारिणाम् ॥ 35 ॥

અને ગુરુનું અપમાન ન કરવું તથા જે અતિશય શ્રેષ્ઠ મનુષ્ય હોય તથા જે લોકને વિષે પ્રતિષ્ઠિત મનુષ્ય હોય તથા જે વિદ્વાન મનુષ્ય હોય તથા જે શસ્ત્રધારી મનુષ્ય હોય તે સર્વેનું અપમાન ન કરવું. ॥ 35 ॥

And one should not insult one’s Guru, also one should not insult all those people who are either virtueous, or respectable or learned or armed people. || 35 ||

Commentary

'Guru' means Shri Harikrishna Mahaprabhu Himself, who liberates one from the worldly sufferrings as well as His God-realized saints who initiate the devotees of Shri Swaminarayan Bhagwan by tying 'Kanthi' and making them take a vow i.e. 'Vartmaan' and give them the complete spiritual knowledge about Shri Hari. Such a Guru should not be insulted. A disciple may be more intelligent or a better scholar than the Guru, but he should always respect his Guru and disciple should never lie in front of his Guru. A disciple who defeats his Guru in a discussion with his rude behaviour, becomes a 'Brahmrakshas' (a type of demon) in a dry forest.

Moreover, one should not insult virtueous people i.e. great men. Kings, political leaders and other respectable people should not be insulted. Respected people are those who are noble through their caste, category or profession and those who belong to lower caste but are respected due to their virtues or wealth. 'Scholars' means who have studied the holy scriptures like 'Vac­hanamrit'. Such devotees of God should not be insulted.

Also, armed people should not be insulted i.e. one should not hurt their ego or should not humiliate them. Because this can lead to total destruction.

Malice towards saints and scholars leads to many misfortunes. Offending the God-realized Saints can destroy one’s life, belong­ings, fame, profession, reward of good deeds, blessings and all kind of happiness.

It is mentioned in the beginning of the shloka that one should not insult one’s Guru. It also means that one should not allow others to insult one’s Guru. To protect the reputation of Guru, one should not care about one’s life, family, relatives or any body. If required one should give up one’s life, family and relatives without thinking twice.