SB 1.14.32-33 (1965)
A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada
TEXTS No.'s 32, 33
Tatha eva anucharah soureh srutadeva uddhavadayah Sunanda nanda sirsanya ye cha anye satwata rishavah
Api swasti asate sarve rama krishna bhujashryah Api smaranti asmakam kushalam baddhasouhridah.
ENGLISH SYNONYMS
Tatha—similarly, Anucharah—constant companions, Soureh—of Lord Sri Krishna such as, Srutadeva—of the name, Uddhavadayah—Uddhava and others, Sunanda—of the name, Nanda—of the name, Sirsanya—other headmen, Ye—all of them, Anye—others, Satwata—liberated souls, Rishavah—the best men, Api—if, Swasti—well doing, Asate—are, Sarve—all of them, Rama—Valarama, Krishna—Lord Krishna, Bhujashryah—under the protection of, Api—also if, Smaranti—do remember, Kushalam—welfare, Asmakam—about ourselves, Baddhasouhridah—bound up by eternal friendship.
TRANSLATION
Similarly are they all such as Uddhava and others, Nanda, Sunanda and other head men leaders of the liberated souls who are constant companions of the Lord as also protected by Lord Valaram and Krishna doing well in their respective functions? Do they all who are all eternally bound up in friendship with us remember about our welfare?
PURPORT
The constant companions of Lord Krishna such as Uddhava etc all are liberated souls and they had descended along with Lord Krishna on this material world to fulfill the mission of the Lord. The Pandavas are also similarly liberated souls who descended along with Lord Krishna to serve Him in His transcendental pastimes on this earth. As stated in the Bhagwat Geeta (B.G. 4/5) the Lord and His eternal associates who are also liberated souls like the Lord come down on this earth at certain intervals. The Lord remembers them all but His associates although liberated souls do forget about them on account of their being Tatastha Sakti or marginal potency of the Lord. That is the difference between the Vishnutatwa and Jivatatwas. The Jivatatwas are infinitesimal potential particles of the Lord and therefore they require the protection of the Lord at all times. And to the eternal servitors of the Lord the Lord is pleased to give all protection at all times. The liberated souls never therefore think of themselves as free as the Lord or as powerful as the Lord but they always seek the protection of the Lord at all circumstances never mind either in the material world or in the spiritual world. This dependence of the liberted soul is constitutional as much as the sparks of the fire can exhibit the glow of fire along with the fire and not independantly. Independantly the glow of the sparks become extinguished although the quality of fire or glowing is there. As such those who give up the protection of the Lord and become a so called Lord themselves out of spiritual ignorance do come back again in this material world even after prolonged Tapasya of the severest type. That is the verdict of all Vedic literature.