Devotee Hankers For More Service

2010-11-03
Srimad Bhagavatam 09.05.27-28 - Devotee Hankers For More Service (download mp3)
by Nanda Dulal Prabhu at ISKCON Chowpatty
www.iskcondesiretree.net

  SB 9.5.27

ity etat punyam akhyanam
ambarisasya bhupate
sankirtayann anudhyayan
bhakto bhagavato bhavet

Translation:

Anyone who chants this narration or even thinks of this narration about the activities of Maharaja Ambarisa certainly becomes a pure devotee of the Lord.

Purport:

Srila Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura herein gives a very good example. When one is very eager for more and more money, he is not satisfied even when he is a millionaire or a multimillionaire, but wants to earn more and more money by any means. The same mentality is present in a devotee. The devotee is never satisfied, thinking, "This is the limit of my devotional service." The more he engages in the service of the Lord, the more service he wants to give. This is the position of a devotee. Maharaja Ambarisa, in his family life, was certainly a pure devotee, complete in every respect, because his mind and all his senses were engaged in devotional service (sa vai manah krsna-padaravindayor vacamsi vaikuntha-gunanuvarnane [SB 9.4.18]). Maharaja Ambarisa was self-satisfied because all of his senses were engaged in devotional service (sarvopadhi-vinirmuktam tat-paratvena nirmalam/ hrsikena hrsikesa-sevanam bhaktir ucyate [Cc. Madhya 19.170]). Nonetheless, although Maharaja Ambarisa had engaged all his senses in devotional service, he left his home and went to the forest to concentrate his mind fully at the lotus feet of Krsna, exactly as a mercantile man, even though complete in wealth, tries to earn more and more. This mentality of getting more and more engaged in devotional service puts one in the most exalted position. Whereas on the karma platform the mercantile man who wants more and more money becomes increasingly bound and entangled, the devotee becomes increasingly liberated.

SB 9.5.28
ambarisasya caritam
ye srnvanti mahatmanah
muktim prayanti te sarve
bhaktya visnoh prasadatah

Translation:

By the grace of the Lord, those who hear about the activities of Maharaja Ambarisa, the great devotee, certainly become liberated or become devotees without delay.

Purport:

Thus end the Bhaktivedanta purports of the Ninth Canto, Fifth Chapter, of the Srimad-Bhagavatam, entitled "Durvasa Muni's Life Spared."