Devanagari
राजन् पतिर्गुरुरलं भवतां यदूनां
दैवं प्रिय: कुलपति: क्व च किङ्करो व: ।
अस्त्वेवमङ्ग भगवान् भजतां मुकुन्दो
मुक्तिं ददाति कर्हिचित्स्म न भक्तियोगम् ॥ १८ ॥
Verse text
rājan patir gurur alaṁ bhavatāṁ yadūnāṁ
daivaṁ priyaḥ kula-patiḥ kva ca kiṅkaro vaḥ
astv evam aṅga bhagavān bhajatāṁ mukundo
muktiṁ dadāti karhicit sma na bhakti-yogam
Synonyms
rājan
—
O my dear King
;
patiḥ
—
maintainer
;
guruḥ
—
spiritual master
;
alam
—
certainly
;
bhavatām
—
of you
;
yadūnām
—
the Yadu dynasty
;
daivam
—
the worshipable Deity
;
priyaḥ
—
very dear friend
;
kula
—
patiḥ — the master of the dynasty
;
kva ca
—
sometimes even
;
kiṅkaraḥ
—
servant
;
vaḥ
—
of you (the Pāṇḍavas)
;
astu
—
to be sure
;
evam
—
thus
;
aṅga
—
O King
;
bhagavān
—
the Supreme Personality of Godhead
;
bhajatām
—
of those devotees engaged in service
;
mukundaḥ
—
the Lord, the Supreme Personality of Godhead
;
muktim
—
liberation
;
dadāti
—
delivers
;
karhicit
—
at any time
;
sma
—
indeed
;
na
—
not
;
bhakti
—
yogam — loving devotional service .
Translation
Śukadeva Gosvāmī continued: My dear King, the Supreme Person, Mukunda, is actually the maintainer of all the members of the Pāṇḍava and Yadu dynasties. He is your spiritual master, worshipable Deity, friend, and the director of your activities. To say nothing of this, He sometimes serves your family as a messenger or servant. This means He worked just as ordinary servants do. Those engaged in getting the Lord’s favor attain liberation from the Lord very easily, but He does not very easily give the opportunity to render direct service unto Him.
Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)
O King Parīkṣit! Kṛṣṇa was the protector, instructor, object of worship, giver of affection, and the protector of both the Yadus and Pāṇḍavas. But he was sometimes your servant. The Lord gives liberation but not even bhāva-bhakti to those who worship him.
The dynasty of Priyavrata in which the Lord as Ṛṣabha appeared is most auspicious. Uttānapāda’s dynasty is auspicious because the Lord as Pṛthu appeared in it. The dynasty of Raghu is auspicious because the Lord as Rāma appeared in it. Among the contemporary Yadu and Puru dynasties, the Yadu Dynasty is auspicious because Kṛṣṇa appeared in it. But our dynasty of Puru is unfortunate, because the Lord did not appear in it. In this way Parīkṣit lamented internally. Understanding his mind because he was omniscient, Śukadeva then gave him bliss by showing the superiority of bhakti over liberation. O King! Kṛṣṇa is the protector of the Pāṇdavas (bhavatām) and Yadus. He is your instructor and object of worship (daivam). He has shown affection and is the leader of the clan---though Kṛṣṇa appeared in the Yadu dynasty, he acted equally toward the Yadus and you, the Pāṇḍavas. But sometimes he acted as your messenger or servant. He did not do this for the Yadus. He did more for you than for the Yadus because his greater love for you. That he gave the highest prema to you, who do not worship him, is the highest position. He does not even give bhāva-bhakti (bhakti-yogam) to those who worship him. He gives the inferior liberation but never (karhicit) bhakti. But he does not give liberation to those practicing pure bhakti, who do not desire liberation. To those persons he gives bhakti.
Purport
While instructing Mahārāja Parīkṣit, Śukadeva Gosvāmī thought it wise to encourage the King because the King might be thinking of the glorious position of various royal dynasties. Especially glorious is the dynasty of Priyavrata, in which the Supreme Lord Ṛṣabhadeva incarnated. Similarly, the family of Uttānapāda Mahārāja, the father of Mahārāja Dhruva, is also glorious due to King Pṛthu’s taking birth in it. The dynasty of Mahārāja Raghu is glorified because Lord Rāmacandra appeared in that family. As far as the Yadu and Kuru dynasties are concerned, they existed simultaneously, but of the two, the Yadu dynasty was more glorious due to the appearance of Lord Kṛṣṇa. Mahārāja Parīkṣit might have been thinking that the Kuru dynasty was not as fortunate as the others because the Supreme Lord did not appear in that family, neither as Kṛṣṇa, Lord Rāmacandra, Lord Ṛṣabhadeva or Mahārāja Pṛthu. Therefore Parīkṣit Mahārāja was encouraged by Śukadeva Gosvāmī in this particular verse.
The Kuru dynasty may be considered more glorious due to the presence of devotees like the five Pāṇḍavas, who rendered unalloyed devotional service. Although Lord Kṛṣṇa did not appear in the Kuru dynasty, He was so obligated to the Pāṇḍavas’ devotional service that He acted as a maintainer of the family and spiritual master of the Pāṇḍavas. Although He took birth in the Yadu dynasty, Lord Kṛṣṇa was more affectionate to the Pāṇḍavas. By His actions, Lord Kṛṣṇa proved that He was more inclined to the Kuru dynasty than the Yadu dynasty. Indeed, Lord Kṛṣṇa, indebted to the Pāṇḍavas’ devotional service, sometimes acted as their messenger, and He guided them through many dangerous situations. Therefore Mahārāja Parīkṣit should not have been saddened because Lord Kṛṣṇa did not appear in his family. The Supreme Personality of Godhead is always inclined toward His pure devotees, and by His action it is clear that liberation is not very important for the devotees. Lord Kṛṣṇa easily gives one liberation, but He does not so easily give one the facility to become a devotee.
Muktiṁ dadāti karhicit sma na bhakti-yogam.
Directly or indirectly, it is proved that
bhakti-yoga
is the basis for the supreme relationship with the Supreme Lord. It is far superior to liberation. For a pure devotee of the Lord,
mukti
is automatically attained.