Devanagari
मैत्रेय उवाच
न वै मुकुन्दस्य पदारविन्दयोरजोजुषस्तात भवादृशा जना: । वाञ्छन्ति तद्दास्यमृतेऽर्थमात्मनोयदृच्छया लब्धमन:समृद्धय: ॥ ३६ ॥
Verse text
maitreya uvāca
na vai mukundasya padāravindayo
rajo-juṣas tāta bhavādṛśā janāḥ
vāṣchanti tad-dāsyam ṛte ’rtham ātmano
yadṛcchayā labdha-manaḥ-samṛddhayaḥ
Synonyms
maitreyaḥ uvāca
—
the great sage Maitreya continued
;
na
—
never
;
vai
—
certainly
;
mukundasya
—
of the Lord, who can give liberation
;
pada
—
aravindayoḥ — of the lotus feet
;
rajaḥ
—
juṣaḥ — persons who are eager to taste the dust
;
tāta
—
my dear Vidura
;
bhavādṛśāḥ
—
like yourself
;
janāḥ
—
persons
;
vāṣchanti
—
desire
;
tat
—
His
;
dāsyam
—
servitorship
;
ṛte
—
without
;
artham
—
interest
;
ātmanaḥ
—
for themselves
;
yadṛcchayā
—
automatically
;
labdha
—
by what is achieved
;
manaḥ
—
samṛddhayaḥ — considering themselves very rich .
Translation
The great sage Maitreya continued: My dear Vidura, persons like you, who are pure devotees of the lotus feet of Mukunda [the Supreme Personality of Godhead, who can offer liberation] and who are always attached to the honey of His lotus feet, are always satisfied in serving at the lotus feet of the Lord. In any condition of life, such persons remain satisfied, and thus they never ask the Lord for material prosperity.
Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)
Maitreya said: O Vidura! Those like you who taste the dust from the lotus feet of Mukunda do not desire anything for themselves except service to him. Their minds are completely satisfied with whatever object comes to them by chance.
Having no material desire would have been best. Rajaḥ jusaḥ means “those who relish the pollen.” They do not desire anything else for themselves (ātmanaḥ) except dāsya to you. They are completely satisfied with whatever object comes to them by chance.
Purport
In the
Bhagavad-gītā
the Lord says that He is the supreme enjoyer, the supreme proprietor of everything and anything within this creation, and the supreme friend of everyone. When one knows these things perfectly, he is always satisfied. The pure devotee never hankers after any kind of material prosperity. The
karmīs,
jṣānīs
and
yogīs,
however, endeavor always for their own personal happiness.
Karmīs
work day and night to improve their economic condition,
jṣānīs
undergo severe austerities in order to get liberation, and
yogīs
also undergo severe austerities by practicing the
yoga
system for attainment of wonderful mystic powers. A devotee, however, is not interested in such activities; he does not want mystic powers or liberation or material prosperity. He is satisfied in any condition of life, as long as he is constantly engaged in the service of the Lord. The Lord’s feet are compared to the lotus, wherein there is saffron dust. A devotee is always engaged in drinking the honey from the lotus feet of the Lord. Unless one is freed from all material desires, he cannot actually taste the honey from the Lord’s lotus feet. One has to discharge his devotional duties without being disturbed by the coming and going of material circumstances. This desirelessness for material prosperity is called
niṣkāma.
One should not mistakenly think that
niṣkāma
means giving up all desires. That is impossible. A living entity is eternally existent, and he cannot give up desires. A living entity must have desires; that is the symptom of life. When there is a recommendation to become desireless, it is to be understood that this means that we should not desire anything for our sense gratification. For a devotee this state of mind,
niḥspṛha,
is the right position. Actually every one of us already has an arrangement for our standard of material comforts. A devotee should always remain satisfied with the standard of comforts offered by the Lord, as stated in the
Īśopaniṣad
(
tena tyaktena bhuṣjīthāḥ
). This saves time for executing Kṛṣṇa consciousness.