Devanagari
नान्यं तत: पद्मपलाशलोचनाद्
दु:खच्छिदं ते मृगयामि कञ्चन ।
यो मृग्यते हस्तगृहीतपद्मया
श्रियेतरैरङ्ग विमृग्यमाणया ॥ २३ ॥
Verse text
nānyaṁ tataḥ padma-palāśa-locanād
duḥkha-cchidaṁ te mṛgayāmi kaṣcana
yo mṛgyate hasta-gṛhīta-padmayā
śriyetarair aṅga vimṛgyamāṇayā
Synonyms
na anyam
—
no others
;
tataḥ
—
therefore
;
padma
—
palāśa — locanāt — from the lotus-eyed Supreme Personality of Godhead
;
duḥkha
—
chidam — one who can mitigate others’ difficulties
;
te
—
your
;
mṛgayāmi
—
I am searching after
;
kaṣcana
—
anyone else
;
yaḥ
—
who
;
mṛgyate
—
searches
;
hasta
—
gṛhīta — padmayā — taking a lotus flower in the hand
;
śriyā
—
the goddess of fortune
;
itaraiḥ
—
by others
;
aṅga
—
my dear boy
;
vimṛgyamāṇayā
—
one who is worshiped .
Translation
My dear Dhruva, as far as I am concerned, I do not find anyone who can mitigate your distress but the Supreme Personality of Godhead, whose eyes are like lotus petals. Many demigods such as Lord Brahmā seek the pleasure of the goddess of fortune, but the goddess of fortune herself, with a lotus flower in her hand, is always ready to render service to the Supreme Lord.
Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)
I do not find anyone who can extinguish your suffering except the lotus-eyed Lord, who is sought by Lakṣmī, who holds a lotus in her hand and who is sought by Brahmā and others.
Seeing their temporary nature, I do not advise you to worship the devatās who, though easy to worship, are incapable of uprooting your suffering, since they give temporary results. He has lotus eyes. Just by his glance you, burning with grief, will become cool. Lakṣmī holds a lotus in her hand like a lamp, and she is sought by Brahmā and others.
Purport
Sunīti pointed out herewith that the benediction received from the Supreme Personality of Godhead and that received from the demigods are not on an equal level. Foolish persons say that no matter whom one worships one will get the same result, but actually that is not a fact. In
Bhagavad-gītā
it is also said that benedictions received from the demigods are all temporary and are meant for the less intelligent. In other words, because the demigods are all materialistically conditioned souls, although they are situated in very exalted positions, their benedictions cannot be permanent. Permanent benediction is spiritual benediction, since a spirit soul is eternal. It is also said in
Bhagavad-gītā
that only persons who have lost their intelligence go to worship the demigods. Therefore Sunīti told her son that he should not seek the mercy of the demigods, but should directly approach the Supreme Personality of Godhead to mitigate his misery.
Material opulences are controlled by the Supreme Personality of Godhead through His different potencies and specifically the goddess of fortune. Therefore, those who are after material opulences seek the pleasure or mercy of the goddess of fortune. Even the highly placed demigods worship the goddess of fortune, but the goddess of fortune, Mahā-Lakṣmī herself, is always seeking the pleasure of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Anyone, therefore, who takes to the worship of the Supreme Lord automatically receives the blessings of the goddess of fortune. At this stage of his life, Dhruva Mahārāja was seeking material opulences, and his mother advised rightly that even for material opulences it is better to worship not the demigods but the Supreme Lord.
Although a pure devotee does not seek benedictions from the Supreme Lord for material advancement, it is stated in
Bhagavad-gītā
that pious persons go to the Lord even for material benedictions. A person who goes to the Supreme Personality of Godhead for material gain is gradually purified in association with the Supreme Lord. Thus he becomes free from all material desires and is elevated to the platform of spiritual life. Unless one is raised to the spiritual platform, it is not possible for him to completely transcend all material contamination.
Sunīti, the mother of Dhruva, was a farseeing woman, and therefore she advised her son to worship the Supreme Lord and no one else. The Lord is described herein as lotus eyed (
padma-palāśa-locanāt
). When a person is fatigued, if he sees a lotus flower all his fatigue can be immediately reduced to nil. Similarly, when an aggrieved person sees the lotus face of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, immediately all his grief is reduced. A lotus flower is also an insignia in the hand of Lord Viṣṇu as well as in the hand of the goddess of fortune. The worshipers of the goddess of fortune and Lord Viṣṇu together are certainly very opulent in all respects, even in material life. The Lord is sometimes described as
śiva-viriṣci-nutam,
which means that Lord Śiva and Lord Brahmā also offer their respectful obeisances unto the lotus feet of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Nārāyaṇa.