Devanagari
तुलयाम लवेनापि न स्वर्गं नापुनर्भवम् ।
भगवत्सङ्गिसङ्गस्य मर्त्यानां किमुताशिष: ॥ ३४ ॥
Verse text
tulayāma lavenāpi
na svargaṁ nāpunar-bhavam
bhagavat-saṅgi-saṅgasya
martyānāṁ kim utāśiṣaḥ
Synonyms
tulayāma
—
we compare
;
lavena
—
with a moment
;
api
—
even
;
na
—
not
;
svargam
—
attainment of the heavenly planets
;
na
—
not
;
apunaḥ
—
bhavam — merging into the Brahman effulgence
;
bhagavat
—
of the Supreme Personality of Godhead
;
saṅgi
—
with associates
;
saṅgasya
—
of association
;
martyānām
—
of persons who are destined to die
;
kim uta
—
how much less
;
āśiṣaḥ
—
benedictions .
Translation
Even a moment’s association with a pure devotee cannot be compared to being transferred to heavenly planets or even merging into the Brahman effulgence in complete liberation. For living entities who are destined to give up the body and die, association with pure devotees is the highest benediction.
Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)
We do not compare attainment of Svarga or liberation to even a moment’s association with a devotee, what to speak of comparing it to the enjoyments of this life.
“You said you were contaminated by māyā. You pray for devotee association to conquer māyā. Then, why don’t you just directly take liberation?” They answer with this verse. The meaning is this. All desirable benedictions including Svarga and liberation have been experienced. But the association of devotees is experienced to be thousands of times better than Svarga or liberation because with devotee association one can experience the sweetness of talks about your form and qualities. That is millions of times superior to the happiness of Svarga and the happiness of your impersonal form as Brahman.
nāhaṁ vasāmi vaikuṇṭhe na yogi-hṛdaye ravau
mad-bhaktā yatra gāyanti tatra tiṣṭhāmi nārada
I do not live in Vaikuṇṭha, in the hearts of the yogīs, or inside the sun. Rather, my dear Nārada, I am present wherever my devotees sing about me. Padma Purāṇa, Uttara-khaṇḍa 92.21
Though you give all happiness to others, the devotee gives you the highest happiness. Thus we pray for devotee association.
Purport
The great saint Prabodhānanda Sarasvatī, a devotee of Lord Caitanya, has stated:
kaivalyaṁ narakāyate tridaśa-pūr ākāśa-puṣpāyate.
For a pure devotee,
kaivalya,
merging into the existence of Brahman, the Brahman effulgence, is no better than living in hell. Similarly, he considers promotion to heavenly planets (
tridaśa-pūr
) just another kind of phantasmagoria. In other words, a pure devotee does not place much value in the destination of the
karmīs
(the heavenly planets) or in the destination of the
jṣānīs
(merging into the Brahman effulgence). A pure devotee considers a moment’s association with another pure devotee to be far superior to residing in a heavenly planet or merging in the Brahman effulgence. The topmost benediction for those who are living in this material world and are subjected to the repetition of birth and death (transmigration) is association with pure devotees. One should search out such pure devotees and remain with them. That will make one completely happy, even though living within the material world. This Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement is started for that purpose. A person who is overly affected materially may take advantage of this movement and become intimately associated with it. In this way the confused and frustrated inhabitants of this material world may find the highest happiness in association with devotees.