SB 3.23.7 · Srimad-Bhagavatam

Devanagari

ये मे स्वधर्मनिरतस्य तप:समाधि- विद्यात्मयोगविजिता भगवत्प्रसादा: । तानेव ते मदनुसेवनयावरुद्धान् द‍ृष्टिं प्रपश्य वितराम्यभयानशोकान् ॥ ७ ॥

Verse text

ye me sva-dharma-niratasya tapaḥ-samādhi- vidyātma-yoga-vijitā bhagavat-prasādāḥ tān eva te mad-anusevanayāvaruddhān dṛṣṭiṁ prapaśya vitarāmy abhayān aśokān

Synonyms

ye — those which ; me — by me ; sva — dharma — own religious life ; niratasya — fully occupied with ; tapaḥ — in austerity ; samādhi — in meditation ; vidyā — in Kṛṣṇa consciousness ; ātma — yoga — by fixing the mind ; vijitāḥ — achieved ; bhagavat — prasādāḥ — the blessings of the Lord ; tān — them ; eva — even ; te — by you ; mat — to me ; anusevanayā — by devoted service ; avaruddhān — obtained ; dṛṣṭim — transcendental vision ; prapaśya — just see ; vitarāmi — I am giving ; abhayān — which are free from fear ; aśokān — which are free from lamentation .

Translation

Kardama Muni continued: I have achieved the blessings of the Lord in discharging my own religious life of austerity, meditation and Kṛṣṇa consciousness. Although you have not yet experienced these achievements, which are free from fear and lamentation, I shall offer them all to you because you are engaged in my service. Now just look at them. I am giving you the transcendental vision to see how nice they are.

Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)

Behold the objects of enjoyment, not subject to fear and lamentation, given by the Lord, attained rightfully by your service to me, which have been attained through concentration of advanced meditation and worship. I will give you the vision. There is nothing suitable to give you to repay the debt of your selfless service to me. That service is very rare. See those things attained by concentration of advanced meditation and worship (samādhi-vidyā), which are rightly attained by you. I give you divine vision by which you will directly see them now. Or another meaning is “By my mercy see directly this sight, without shyness.” Let there be no obstacle to both enjoyment and liberation by those things given by the Lord through meditation on the Lord mixed with svadharma or austerities! Thus Kardama promises fearlessness and no lamentation.

Purport

Devahūti engaged only in the service of Kardama Muni. She was not supposed to be so advanced in austerity, ecstasy, meditation or Kṛṣṇa consciousness, but, imperceptibly, she was sharing her husband’s achievements, which she could neither see nor experience. Automatically she achieved these graces of the Lord. What are the graces of the Lord? It is stated here that the graces of the Lord are abhaya, free from fearfulness. In the material world, if someone accumulates a million dollars, he is always full of fear because he is always thinking, “What if the money is lost?” But the benediction of the Lord, bhagavat-prasāda, is never to be lost. It is simply to be enjoyed. There is no question of loss. One simply gains and enjoys gaining. Bhagavad-gītā also confirms this: when one achieves the grace of the Lord, the result is that sarva-duḥkhāni, all distresses, are destroyed. When situated in the transcendental position, one is freed from the two kinds of material diseases — hankering and lamentation. This is also stated in Bhagavad-gītā. After devotional life begins, we can achieve the full result of love of Godhead. Love of Kṛṣṇa is the highest perfection of bhagavat-prasāda, or divine mercy. This transcendental achievement is so greatly valuable that no material happiness can compare to it. Prabodhānanda Sarasvatī said that if one achieves the grace of Lord Caitanya he becomes so great that he does not care a fig even for the demigods, he thinks of monism as hellish, and for him the perfection of controlling the senses is as easy as anything. Heavenly pleasures become to him no more than stories. Actually, there is no comparison between material happiness and transcendental happiness. By the grace of Kardama Muni, Devahūti experienced actual realization simply by serving. We get a similar example in the life of Nārada Muni. In his previous life, Nārada was a maidservant’s son, but his mother was engaged in the service of great devotees. He got the opportunity to serve the devotees, and simply by eating the remnants of their foodstuff and carrying out their orders he became so elevated that in his next life he became the great personality Nārada. For spiritual achievement the easiest path is to take shelter of a bona fide spiritual master and to serve him with heart and soul. That is the secret of success. As stated by Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura in his eight stanzas of prayer to the spiritual master, yasya prasādād bhagavat-prasādaḥ: by serving or receiving the grace of the spiritual master, one receives the grace of the Supreme Lord. By serving her devotee husband, Kardama Muni, Devahūti shared in his achievements. Similarly, a sincere disciple, simply by serving a bona fide spiritual master, can achieve all the mercy of the Lord and the spiritual master simultaneously.