Devanagari
भृत्यलक्षणजिज्ञासुर्भक्तं कामेष्वचोदयत् ।
भवान् संसारबीजेषु हृदयग्रन्थिषु प्रभो ॥ ३ ॥
Verse text
bhṛtya-lakṣaṇa-jijṣāsur
bhaktaṁ kāmeṣv acodayat
bhavān saṁsāra-bījeṣu
hṛdaya-granthiṣu prabho
Synonyms
bhṛtya
—
lakṣaṇa — jijṣāsuḥ — desiring to exhibit the symptoms of a pure devotee
;
bhaktam
—
the devotee
;
kāmeṣu
—
in the material world, where lusty desires predominate
;
acodayat
—
has sent
;
bhavān
—
Your Lordship
;
saṁsāra
—
bījeṣu — the root cause of being present in this material world
;
hṛdaya
—
granthiṣu — which (desire for material enjoyment) is in the cores of the hearts of all conditioned souls
;
prabho
—
O my worshipable Lord .
Translation
O my worshipable Lord, because the seed of lusty desires, which is the root cause of material existence, is within the core of everyone’s heart, You have sent me to this material world to exhibit the symptoms of a pure devotee.
Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)
Curious about the symptoms of your devotee, you have sent me into a world of enjoyment, the seed of saṁsāra, which creates the knot in the heart.
“Do I actually tempt my devotees?” No. You simply show the world the highest steadiness of your devotee. Your intention is to show the quality of your devotee when you say to him “Why do you not accept the benedictions I offer?” O Lord (most capable)! Since you are omniscient, you do not need to know anything and you cannot be curious. Rather you are making everyone else know.
Purport
Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu
has given considerable discussion about
nitya-siddha
and
sādhana-siddha
devotees.
Nitya-siddha
devotees come from Vaikuṇṭha to this material world to teach, by their personal example, how to become a devotee. The living entities in this material world can take lessons from such
nitya-siddha
devotees and thus become inclined to return home, back to Godhead. A
nitya-siddha
devotee comes from Vaikuṇṭha upon the order of the Supreme Personality of Godhead and shows by his example how to become a pure devotee (
anyābhilāṣitā-śūnyam
). In spite of coming to this material world, the
nitya-siddha
devotee is never attracted by the allurements of material enjoyment. A perfect example is Prahlāda Mahārāja, who was a
nitya-siddha,
a
mahā-bhāgavata
devotee. Although Prahlāda was born in the family of Hiraṇyakaśipu, an atheist, he was never attached to any kind of materialistic enjoyment. Desiring to exhibit the symptoms of a pure devotee, the Lord tried to induce Prahlāda Mahārāja to take material benedictions, but Prahlāda Mahārāja did not accept them. On the contrary, by his personal example he showed the symptoms of a pure devotee. In other words, the Lord Himself has no desire to send His pure devotee to this material world, nor does a devotee have any material purpose in coming. When the Lord Himself appears as an incarnation within this material world, He is not allured by the material atmosphere, and He has nothing to do with material activity, yet by His example He teaches the common man how to become a devotee. Similarly, a devotee who comes here in accordance with the order of the Supreme Lord shows by his personal behavior how to become a pure devotee. A pure devotee, therefore, is a practical example for all living entities, including Lord Brahmā.