Devanagari
महद्विचलनं नृणां गृहिणां दीनचेतसाम् ।
नि:श्रेयसाय भगवन्कल्पते नान्यथा क्वचित् ॥ ४ ॥
Verse text
mahad-vicalanaṁ nṝṇāṁ
gṛhiṇāṁ dīna-cetasām
niḥśreyasāya bhagavan
kalpate nānyathā kvacit
Synonyms
mahat
—
vicalanam — the movement of great personalities
;
nṝṇām
—
in the houses of ordinary persons
;
gṛhiṇām
—
especially householders
;
dīna
—
cetasām — who are very simple-minded, being engaged in family maintenance and nothing more
;
niḥśreyasāya
—
a great personality has no reason to go to the gṛhastha but to benefit him
;
bhagavan
—
O most powerful devotee
;
kalpate
—
is to be taken that way
;
na anyathā
—
not for any other purpose
;
kvacit
—
at any time .
Translation
O my lord, O great devotee, persons like you move from one place to another not for their own interests but for the sake of poor-hearted gṛhasthas [householders]. Otherwise they have no interest in going from one place to another.
Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)
O my lord, O great devotee, persons like you move from one place to another not for their own interests but for the sake of poor-hearted gṛhasthas [householders]. Otherwise they have no interest in going from one place to another.
KB 10.8.4
Addressing him very politely, he said, “My dear brāhmaṇa, your appearance in a householder’s place is only to enlighten. We are always engaged in household duties and are forgetting our real duty of self-realization. Your coming to our house is to give us some enlightenment about spiritual life. You have no other purpose in visiting householders.” Actually, a saintly person or a brāhmaṇa has no business visiting householders, who are always busy in the matter of dollars and cents. The only reason saintly persons and brāhmaṇas go to the place of a householder is to enlighten him. If it is asked, “Why don’t the householders go to a saintly person or a brāhmaṇa for enlightenment?” the answer is that householders are very poor-hearted. Generally householders think that engaging in family affairs is their prime duty and that self-realization or enlightenment in spiritual knowledge is secondary. Out of compassion only, saintly persons and brāhmaṇas go to householders’ homes.
Purport
As factually stated by Nanda Mahārāja, Garga Muni, being a devotee, had no needs. Similarly, when Kṛṣṇa comes He has no needs, for He is
pūrṇa, ātmārāma.
Nonetheless, He descends to this material world to protect the devotees and vanquish miscreants (
paritrāṇāya sādhūnāṁ vināśāya ca duṣkṛtām
). This is the mission of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, and devotees also have the same mission. One who executes this mission of
para-upakāra,
performing welfare activities for people in general, is recognized by Kṛṣṇa, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, as being very, very dear to Him (
na ca tasmān manuṣyeṣu kaścin me priya-kṛttamaḥ
). Similarly, Caitanya Mahāprabhu has advised this
para-upakāra,
and He has especially advised the inhabitants of India:
bhārata-bhūmite haila manuṣya-janma yāra
janma sārthaka kari’ kara para-upakāra
“One who has taken his birth as a human being in the land of India [Bhārata-varṣa] should make his life successful and work for the benefit of all other people.” (
Cc. Ādi
9.41) On the whole, the duty of a pure Vaiṣṇava devotee is to act for the welfare of others.
Nanda Mahārāja could understand that Garga Muni had come for this purpose and that his own duty now was to act according to Garga Muni’s advice. Thus he said, “Please tell me what is my duty.” This should be the attitude of everyone, especially the householder. The
varṇāśrama
society is organized into eight divisions:
brāhmaṇa, kṣatriya, vaiśya, śūdra, brahmacarya, gṛhastha, vānaprastha
and
sannyāsa.
Nanda Mahārāja represented himself as
gṛhiṇām,
a householder. A
brahmacārī
factually has no needs, but
gṛhīs,
householders, are engaged in sense gratification. As stated in
Bhagavad-gītā
(2.44)
,
bhogaiśvarya-prasaktānāṁ tayāpahṛta-cetasām.
Everyone has come to this material world for sense gratification, and the position of those who are too attached to sense gratification and who therefore accept the
gṛhastha-āśrama
is very precarious. Since everyone in this material world is searching for sense gratification,
gṛhasthas
are required to be trained as
mahat,
great
mahātmās.
Therefore Nanda Mahārāja specifically used the word
mahad-vicalanam.
Garga Muni had no interest to serve by going to Nanda Mahārāja, but Nanda Mahārāja, as a
gṛhastha,
was always perfectly ready to receive instructions from a
mahātmā
to gain the real benefit in life. Thus he was ready to execute Garga Muni’s order.
Purport (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)
"Since you are complete, fully satisfied, what service can we possibly render to you? We can do nothing." Or taking kim as a question, the sentence can mean, "Do you want something, perfect though you be? Please tell us and we will try to do that." It we take the first meaning, then Garga would answer, "Coming to your house is pointless." If we take the second sentence, then he would reply, "Since I am perfect, what could you do for me." But one should not think in this way. In both cases coming to Nanda’s house is not pointless, for welcoming a saintly person in a house is very valuable. One can see in the scriptures how Sanatkumar came to Prthu’s house, and Vamana came to Bali’s house out of mercy. In this mood Nanda speaks verse four. Great saints leaving their asrama and going elsewhere is the highest fortune for the householders. It is required by the householders. It is beneficial for the human grhasthas not the deva grhasthas. And it is beneficial for humans who are grhasthas not brahmacaris. It is beneficial for those human grhasthas who are humble, thinking themselves lower than grass (dina cetasam), for they are qualified for mercy. Those who are proud, with hard and crooked hearts, are not qualified for the mercy.
Purport (Jiva Goswami)
Garga is called mahat because he is fixed in the service of the Lord. He went far from his residential quarters (vi-calanam). Other men are absorbed in worldly actions for this and next life by their nature. Furthermore they are engaged in supporting wife and children. Moreover they become disturbed by this (dīna-cetasām). Your coming is meant for creating all-auspiciousness for such people. O omniscient one (bhagavān)! Persons with knowledge like you come to ignorant people like us by mercy. Other than to give us mercy, there is not cause for your leaving your home, since the nature of great souls is to work for other’s benefit.
Purport (Sanatana Goswami)
Garga is called mahat because he is fixed in the service of the Lord. He went far from his residential quarters (vi-calanam). Other men are absorbed in worldly actions for this and next life by their nature. Furthermore they are engaged in supporting wife and children. Moreover they become disturbed by this (dīna-cetasām). Your coming is meant for creating all-auspiciousness for such people. O omniscient one (bhagavān)! The materialists do not know what to do and what not to do.
Or you are directly Nārāyaṇa. In worship there is non-difference of the Lord and his devotees. This indicates that Garga is capable of doing anything. Moving about acts (kalpate) for their benefit. You do not do otherwise for them since there is never any obstacles or accidents for the great souls.
Or even the slight deviation from service to the Lord (vicalanam) by the devotees (mahat) is beneficial for the householders. Being attached to the house, engaging in other actions and going elsewhere, they never attain the highest goal.