Devanagari
भक्ताय चित्रा भगवान् हि सम्पदो
राज्यं विभूतीर्न समर्थयत्यज: ।
अदीर्घबोधाय विचक्षण: स्वयं
पश्यन् निपातं धनिनां मदोद्भवम् ॥ ३७ ॥
Verse text
bhaktāya citrā bhagavān hi sampado
rājyaṁ vibhūtīr na samarthayaty ajaḥ
adīrgha-bodhāya vicakṣaṇaḥ svayaṁ
paśyan nipātaṁ dhanināṁ madodbhavam
Synonyms
bhaktāya
—
to His devotee
;
citrāḥ
—
wonderful
;
bhagavān
—
the Supreme Lord
;
hi
—
indeed
;
sampadaḥ
—
opulences
;
rājyam
—
kingdom
;
vibhūtīḥ
—
material assets
;
na samarthayati
—
does not bestow
;
ajaḥ
—
unborn
;
adīrgha
—
short
;
bodhāya
—
whose understanding
;
vicakṣanaḥ
—
wise
;
svayam
—
Himself
;
paśyan
—
seeing
;
nipātam
—
the downfall
;
dhaninām
—
of the wealthy
;
mada
—
of the intoxication of pride
;
udbhavam
—
the rise .
Translation
To a devotee who lacks spiritual insight, the Supreme Lord will not grant the wonderful opulences of this world — kingly power and material assets. Indeed, in His infinite wisdom the unborn Lord well knows how the intoxication of pride can cause the downfall of the wealthy.
Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)
To a devotee who lacks spiritual insight, the Supreme Lord will not grant the wonderful opulences of this world-kingly power and material assets. Indeed, in His infinite wisdom the unborn Lord well knows how the intoxication of pride can cause the downfall of the wealthy.
KB 10.81.37
“The unborn Supreme Personality of Godhead, Kṛṣṇa, knows that many great personalities have fallen from their positions because of extravagant opulence. Therefore, even when His devotee asks for some opulence from Him, the Lord sometimes does not give it. He is very cautious about His devotees. Because a devotee in an immature position of devotional service may, if offered great opulence, fall from his position due to being in the material world, the Lord does not offer opulence to him. This is another manifestation of the causeless mercy of the Lord upon His devotee. His first interest is that the devotee not fall. He is exactly like a well-wishing father who does not give much wealth into the hand of his immature son, but who, when the son is grown up and knows how to spend money, gives him the whole treasury house.”
Purport
As explained by Śrīla Viśvanātha Cakravartī, the humble
brāhmaṇa
Sudāmā considered himself unworthy of the Supreme Lord’s most rare and valuable benediction, pure devotional service. He reasoned that if he had any true devotion, the Lord would have granted him perfect, unflinching devotion rather than the material riches and servants he had received. Lord Kṛṣṇa would have protected a more serious devotee by denying him such distractions. The Lord will give a sincere but less intelligent devotee not as much material wealth as he desires, but only what will promote his devotional progress. Sudāmā thought, “A great saint like Prahlāda Mahārāja can avoid becoming contaminated by immeasurable wealth, power and fame, but I must always be wary of temptation in my new situation.”
We may understand that this humble attitude assured Sudāmā Vipra final success in his execution of
bhakti-yoga
by the standard process of hearing and repeating the glories of Lord Kṛṣṇa.
Purport (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)
"So you have devotion and the result of that devotion is gaining wealth?"
" No, I do not have bhakti, and the result of bhakti is not wealth."
That is expressed in this verse.
"He does not give wealth (sampadah), power (rajyam) or wife and family (vibhutih).
There is no danger for them if the Lord gives wealth to such intelligent devotees as Prahlada. However, I am not intelligent (adhirgha bodhaya), since I have no devotion, so the Lord does not giveto me."
This means that Sudama,,having got that wealth, then thought "What is the use of it?" Enjoying what was there as was necessary to maintain himself, he became fixed in his vows, and sleeping on the earth, he became completely absorbed in hearing, chanting and other types of service.
The Lord does not increase wealth to make the devotee happy. However some say that he will give a slight amount in order to help the service the devotee is performing in prema.
Purport (Jiva Goswami)
Since the Lord is full of all powers (bhagavān) and is always perfect in himself (ajaḥ), he is independent in bestowing. He does not give wealth, kingdom and power, because of the variety of mentalities (citrā) in the devotees. The Lord sees that intoxication with wealth, kingdom and power causes downfall from one’s position or makes one fall from one’s dharma to hell, since the Lord is omniscient (vicakṣaṇaḥ). “Then why did he give to Dhruva, Prahlāda and Ambarīṣa?” They had good intelligence. They had good qualities because of the strength of their intelligence. But the Lord does not give to those with meager intelligence because he sees it will create obstacles to attaining him.
Purport (Sanatana Goswami)
Since the Lord is full of all powers (bhagavān) and is always perfect in himself (ajaḥ), he is independent in bestowing benedictions. He does not give wealth, kingdom and power, because of the variety of mentalities (citrā) in the devotees. The Lord sees that intoxication with wealth, kingdom and power cause downfall from one’s position or makes one fall from one’s dharma to hell, since the Lord is omniscient (vicakṣaṇaḥ). “Then why did he give to Dhruva, Prahlāda and Ambarīṣa?” They had good intelligence. They had good qualities because of the strength of their intelligence. But the Lord does not give to those with meager intelligence because he sees it will create obstacles for them to attain him. Thus he did not give to me previously because I had no desire. Now, by insistence of my wife, I developed a desire, and the Lord has given. Or because (hi) wealth produces lack of discrimination (adīrgha-bodhāya), the Lord does not grant wealth to devotees. The Lord does not bestow to the devotee but by the desire of the devotee, he gives a little.
Or the Lord does not give wealth to the devotee who has great knowledge (dīrgha-bodhāya) of the Lord (a). I did not have great knowledge, so the Lord has given me wealth. This shows the devotee’s humility and gentleness, natural to bhakti.