Text 30
tān vīkṣya vāta-raśanāṁś caturaḥ kumārān
vṛddhān daśārdha-vayaso viditātma-tattvān
vetreṇa cāskhalayatām atad-arhaṇāṁs tau
tejo vihasya bhagavat-pratikūla-śīlau
tān — them; vīkṣya — after seeing; vāta-raśanān — naked; caturaḥ — four; kumārān — boys; vṛddhān — aged; daśa-ardha — five years; vayasaḥ — appearing as of the age; vidita — had realized; ātma-tattvān — the truth of the self; vetreṇa — with their staffs; ca — also; askhalayatām — forbade; a-tat-arhaṇān — not deserving such from them; tau — those two porters; tejaḥ — glories; vihasya — disregarding the etiquette; bhagavat-pratikūla-śīlau — having a nature displeasing to the Lord.
The four boy-sages, who had nothing to cover their bodies but the atmosphere, looked only five years old, even though they were the oldest of all living creatures and had realized the truth of the self. But when the porters, who happened to possess a disposition quite unpalatable to the Lord, saw the sages, they blocked their way with their staffs, despising their glories, although the sages did not deserve such treatment at their hands.
The four sages were the first-born sons of Brahmā. Therefore all other living entities, including Lord Śiva, are born later and are therefore younger than the four Kumāras. Although they looked like five-year-old boys and traveled naked, the Kumāras were older than all other living creatures and had realized the truth of the self. Such saints were not to be forbidden to enter the kingdom of Vaikuṇṭha, but by chance the doormen objected to their entrance. This was not fitting. The Lord is always anxious to serve sages like the Kumāras, but in spite of knowing this fact, the doormen, astonishingly and outrageously, prohibited them from entering.