Devanagari
श्रीइन्द्र उवाच
प्रत्यानीता: परम भवता त्रायता न: स्वभागा
दैत्याक्रान्तं हृदयकमलं तद्गृहं प्रत्यबोधि ।
कालग्रस्तं कियदिदमहो नाथ शुश्रूषतां ते
मुक्तिस्तेषां न हि बहुमता नारसिंहापरै: किम् ॥ ४२ ॥
Verse text
śrī-indra uvāca
pratyānītāḥ parama bhavatā trāyatā naḥ sva-bhāgā
daityākrāntaṁ hṛdaya-kamalaṁ tad-gṛhaṁ pratyabodhi
kāla-grastaṁ kiyad idam aho nātha śuśrūṣatāṁ te
muktis teṣāṁ na hi bahumatā nārasiṁhāparaiḥ kim
Synonyms
śrī
—
indraḥ uvāca — Indra, the King of heaven, said
;
pratyānītāḥ
—
recovered
;
parama
—
O Supreme
;
bhavatā
—
by Your Lordship
;
trāyatā
—
who are protecting
;
naḥ
—
us
;
sva
—
bhāgāḥ — shares in the sacrifices
;
daitya
—
ākrāntam — afflicted by the demon
;
hṛdaya
—
kamalam — the lotuslike cores of our hearts
;
tat
—
gṛham — which is actually Your residence
;
pratyabodhi
—
it has been illuminated
;
kāla
—
grastam — devoured by time
;
kiyat
—
insignificant
;
idam
—
this (world)
;
aho
—
alas
;
nātha
—
O Lord
;
śuśrūṣatām
—
for those who are always engaged in the service
;
te
—
of You
;
muktiḥ
—
liberation from material bondage
;
teṣām
—
of them (the pure devotees)
;
na
—
not
;
hi
—
indeed
;
bahumatā
—
thought very important
;
nāra
—
siṁha — O Lord Nṛsiṁhadeva, half lion and half human being
;
aparaiḥ kim
—
then what is the use of other possessions .
Translation
King Indra said: O Supreme Lord, You are our deliverer and protector. Our shares of sacrifices, which are actually Yours, have been recovered from the demon by You. Because the demoniac king Hiraṇyakaśipu was most fearsome, our hearts, which are Your permanent abode, were all overtaken by him. Now, by Your presence, the gloom and darkness in our hearts have been dissipated. O Lord, for those who always engage in Your service, which is more exalted than liberation, all material opulence is insignificant. They do not even care for liberation, not to speak of the benefits of kāma, artha and dharma.
Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)
Indra said: Your share of sacrifice has been taken back by you, our deliverer. You have illuminated your residence, our lotus hearts, afflicted by the demon. What is this post of Indra devoured by time? O Narasiṁha! Those who engage in your service do not give any regard to liberation. What then is the use of other things?
Until this time I have not been attracted to remembering your lotus feet (since I was disturbed by the demon). O Supreme Lord! You, who protect us, have taken back your share of sacrifice from the demon, since everything that belonging to us, the servants, actually belongs to you, the master. Our hearts are your house because there we constantly meditate upon you. Just as the lotus loses its beauty in the night, and closes up, attacked by darkness, from the birth of the demon till today, thinking of the demon in fear, we have been attacked by the demon. Now that you have appeared like the sun, we have woken up. Touched by your feet, the lotus of our hearts has blossomed. Or, we have understood about (prati) your home Vaikuṇṭha. We have gained intelligence to serve your feet. “Since you are a devotee, accept the post of Indra.” True, since I have desire and no devotion, I will have to accept that. But the devotees without desire do not care for this post or even liberation, what to speak of things like the powers of yoga.
Purport
In this material world there are two kinds of people — the
devatās
(demigods) and the
asuras
(demons). Although the demigods are attached to material enjoyment, they are devotees of the Lord who act according to the rules and regulations of the Vedic injunctions. During the reign of Hiraṇyakaśipu, everyone was disturbed in the routine duties of Vedic civilization. When Hiraṇyakaśipu was killed, all the demigods, who had always been disturbed by Hiraṇyakaśipu, felt relief in their general way of life.
Because the government in Kali-yuga is full of demons, the living conditions of devotees are always disturbed. Devotees cannot perform
yajṣa,
and thus they cannot partake of the remnants of food offered in
yajṣa
for the worship of Lord Viṣṇu. The hearts of the demigods are always filled with fear of the demons, and therefore they cannot think of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. The engagement of the demigods is to think of the Lord always within the cores of their hearts. The Lord says in
Bhagavad-gītā
(6.47)
:
yoginām api sarveṣāṁ
mad gatenāntarātmanā
śraddhāvān bhajate yo māṁ
sa me yuktatamo mataḥ
“And of all
yogīs,
he who always abides in Me with great faith, worshiping Me in transcendental loving service, is most intimately united with Me in
yoga
and is the highest of all.” The demigods fully absorb themselves in meditation upon the Supreme Personality of Godhead to become perfect
yogīs,
but because of the presence of demons, their hearts are filled with the activities of the demons. Thus their hearts, which are meant to be the abode of the Supreme Lord, are practically occupied by the demons. All the demigods felt relieved when Hiraṇyakaśipu was dead, for they could easily think of the Lord. They could then receive the results of sacrifices and become happy even though in the material world.