Srimad Bhagavatam 09.11.06 - Selfless Service Is Superior To Enjoyment (download mp3)
by Nityanand Prabhu at ISKCON Chowpatty
www.iskcondesiretree.net
SB 9.11.6
aprattam nas tvaya kim nu
bhagavan bhuvanesvara
yan no 'ntar-hrdayam visya
tamo hamsi sva-rocisa
aprattam nas tvaya kim nu
bhagavan bhuvanesvara
yan no 'ntar-hrdayam visya
tamo hamsi sva-rocisa
Translation:
O Lord, You are the master of the entire universe. What have You not given to us? You have entered the core of our hearts and dissipated the darkness of our ignorance by Your effulgence. This is the supreme gift. We do not need a material donation.
O Lord, You are the master of the entire universe. What have You not given to us? You have entered the core of our hearts and dissipated the darkness of our ignorance by Your effulgence. This is the supreme gift. We do not need a material donation.
Purport:
When Dhruva Maharaja was offered a benediction by the Supreme Personality of Godhead, he replied, "O my Lord, I am fully satisfied. I do not need any material benediction." Similarly, when Prahlada Maharaja was offered a benediction by Lord Nrsimha-deva, he also refused to accept it and instead declared that a devotee should not be like a vanik, a mercantile man who gives something in exchange for some profit. One who becomes a devotee for some material profit is not a pure devotee. Brahmanas are always enlightened by the Supreme Personality of Godhead within the heart (sarvasya caham hrdi sannivisto mattah smrtir jñanam apohanam ca [Bg. 15.15]). And because the brahmanas and Vaisnavas are always directed by the Supreme Personality of Godhead, they are not greedy for material wealth. What is absolutely necessary they possess, but they do not want an expanded kingdom. An example of this was given by Vamanadeva. Acting as a brahmacari, Lord Vamanadeva wanted only three paces of land. Aspiring to possess more and more for personal sense gratification is simply ignorance, and this ignorance is conspicuous by its absence from the heart of a brahmana or Vaisnava.
