Devanagari
त्वन्माययाद्धा जन ईश खण्डितो
यदन्यदाशास्त ऋतात्मनोऽबुध: ।
यथा चरेद् बालहितं पिता स्वयं
तथा त्वमेवार्हसि न: समीहितुम् ॥ ३१ ॥
Verse text
tvan-māyayāddhā jana īśa khaṇḍito
yad anyad āśāsta ṛtātmano ’budhaḥ
yathā cared bāla-hitaṁ pitā svayaṁ
tathā tvam evārhasi naḥ samīhitum
Synonyms
tvat
—
Your
;
māyayā
—
by illusory energy
;
addhā
—
certainly
;
janaḥ
—
the people in general
;
īśa
—
O my Lord
;
khaṇḍitaḥ
—
separated
;
yat
—
because
;
anyat
—
other
;
āśāste
—
they desire
;
ṛta
—
real
;
ātmanaḥ
—
from the self
;
abudhaḥ
—
without proper understanding
;
yathā
—
as
;
caret
—
would engage in
;
bāla
—
hitam — the welfare of one’s child
;
pitā
—
the father
;
svayam
—
personally
;
tathā
—
similarly
;
tvam
—
Your Lordship
;
eva
—
certainly
;
arhasi naḥ samīhitum
—
please act on my behalf .
Translation
My Lord, due to Your illusory energy, all living beings in this material world have forgotten their real constitutional position, and out of ignorance they are always desirous of material happiness in the form of society, friendship and love. Therefore, please do not ask me to take some material benefits from You, but as a father, not waiting for the son’s demand, does everything for the benefit of the son, please bestow upon me whatever You think best for me.
Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)
O Lord! Since foolish people, injured by your māyā, desire things other than worshipping you, you should choose (without asking us) what is for our benefit, just as a father acts for the benefit of his son.
Therefore do not test your devotee with greed by offering him benedictions. Since all people desire something other than the proper thing--your worship (ṛte ātmanaḥ), you should do (samīhitum) what you think is good for us. Just as the father knows what is beneficial or harmful for his son, when he should study or play, do what is best according to your opinion after considering if giving benedictions is beneficial or harmful for me. You do not have to ask for my approval again. This shows Pṛthu’s trust in the Lord.
Purport
It is the duty of the son to depend upon his father without asking anything from him. The good son has faith that the father knows best how to benefit him. Similarly, a pure devotee does not ask anything from the Lord for material benefit. Nor does he ask anything for spiritual benefit. The pure devotee is fully surrendered unto the lotus feet of the Lord, and the Lord takes charge of him, as stated in
Bhagavad-gītā
(18.66)
:
ahaṁ tvāṁ sarva-pāpebhyo mokṣayiṣyāmi.
The father knows the necessities of the son and supplies them, and the Supreme Lord knows the necessities of the living entities and supplies them sumptuously. Therefore the
Īśopaniṣad
states that everything in this material world is complete (
pūrṇam idam
). The difficulty is that due to forgetfulness the living entities create unnecessary demands and entangle themselves in material activities. The result is that there is no end to material activities, life after life.
Before us there are varieties of living entities, and everyone is entangled in transmigrations and activities. Our duty is simply to surrender unto the Supreme Personality of Godhead and let Him take charge, for He knows what is good for us.
Pṛthu Mahārāja therefore tells the Lord that, as the supreme father, He may elect to bestow whatever He considers beneficial for Pṛthu Mahārāja. That is the perfect position of the living entity. Therefore Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu teaches us in His
Śikṣāṣṭaka:
na dhanaṁ na janaṁ na sundarīṁ
kavitāṁ vā jagad-īśa kāmaye
mama janmani janmanīśvare
bhavatād bhaktir ahaitukī tvayi
“O Almighty Lord! I have no desire to accumulate wealth, nor have I any desire to enjoy beautiful women, nor do I want any number of followers. I only want Your causeless devotional service in my life, birth after birth.”
The conclusion is that the pure devotee should not aspire after any material benefit from devotional service, nor should he be enamored by fruitive activities or philosophical speculation. He should always be engaged favorably in the service of the Lord. That is the highest perfection of life.