Devanagari
तमेव वत्साश्रय भृत्यवत्सलं
मुमुक्षुभिर्मृग्यपदाब्जपद्धतिम् ।
अनन्यभावे निजधर्मभाविते
मनस्यवस्थाप्य भजस्व पूरुषम् ॥ २२ ॥
Verse text
tam eva vatsāśraya bhṛtya-vatsalaṁ
mumukṣubhir mṛgya-padābja-paddhatim
ananya-bhāve nija-dharma-bhāvite
manasy avasthāpya bhajasva pūruṣam
Synonyms
tam
—
Him
;
eva
—
also
;
vatsa
—
my dear boy
;
āśraya
—
take shelter
;
bhṛtya
—
vatsalam — of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, who is very kind to His devotees
;
mumukṣubhiḥ
—
also by persons desiring liberation
;
mṛgya
—
to be sought
;
pada
—
abja — lotus feet
;
paddhatim
—
system
;
ananya
—
bhāve — in an unflinching situation
;
nija
—
dharma — bhāvite — being situated in one’s original constitutional position
;
manasi
—
unto the mind
;
avasthāpya
—
placing
;
bhajasva
—
go on executing devotional service
;
pūruṣam
—
the Supreme Person .
Translation
My dear boy, you also should take shelter of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, who is very kind to His devotees. Persons seeking liberation from the cycle of birth and death always take shelter of the lotus feet of the Lord in devotional service. Becoming purified by executing your allotted occupation, just situate the Supreme Personality of Godhead in your heart, and without deviating for a moment, engage always in His service.
Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)
O child! Take shelter of the Lord, who is affectionate to his servant and whose footsteps are sought by aspirants for liberation. Worship the Lord, fixing him in your mind purified by bhakti, with attachment to nothing else.
The Lord is affectionate to his servant. He will have more affection for you, his servant, than the affection of millions of mothers like me. You will not encounter a trace of suffering. You will take shelter of the Lord, the path (paddhati) of whose lotus feet are sought by aspirants for liberation, but which is not easily attained by them. Having taken shelter, you should place them in your mind which has attachment for nothing else (ananya-bhāve). Worship the Lord, fixing him in the mind purified (bhāvite) by bhakti-dharma, since a five year old boy is not qualified for karma-yoga.
Purport
The system of
bhakti-yoga
described by Queen Sunīti to her son is the standard way of God realization. Everyone can continue in his constitutional occupational duties and at the same time keep the Supreme Personality of Godhead within his heart. This was also instructed by the Lord Himself to Arjuna in
Bhagavad-gītā:
“Go on fighting, but keep Me within your mind.” That should be the motto of every honest person seeking perfection in Kṛṣṇa consciousness. In this connection, Queen Sunīti advised her son that the Supreme Personality of Godhead is known as
bhṛtya-vatsala,
which indicates that He is very kind to His devotees. She said, “You came to me crying, having been insulted by your stepmother, but I am unable to do any good for you. But Kṛṣṇa is so kind to His devotees that if you go to Him, then the combined kindness of millions of mothers like me will be surpassed by His affectionate and tender dealings. When everyone else fails to mitigate one’s misery, Kṛṣṇa is able to help the devotee.” Queen Sunīti also stressed that the process of approaching the Supreme Personality of Godhead is not easy, but is sought after by great sages who are very advanced in spiritual realization. Queen Sunīti also indicated by her instruction that Dhruva Mahārāja was only a small child, five years old, and it was not possible for him to purify himself by the way of
karma-kāṇḍa.
But by the process of
bhakti-yoga,
even a child less than five years old, or anyone of any age, can be purified. That is the special significance of
bhakti-yoga.
Therefore she advised him not to accept worship of the demigods or any other process but simply to take to the Supreme Personality of Godhead, and the result would be all perfection. As soon as one places the Supreme Personality of Godhead within one’s heart, everything becomes easy and successful.