SB 1.8.29 (1964)
A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada
TEXT No. 29
Sa veda kaschit bhvgabans chikirsitam Taba ihamanasya nrinam bidambanam Na yasya kaschit dayito' sti karhichit Dwesyas cha yasmin visama matirnrinam
ENGLISH SYNONYMS
Na—does not, Veda—know, Kaschit—anyone, Bhagabans—oh the Lord, Chikrsitam—pastimes, Taba-your, Ihamanasya—like the worldly men, Nrinam—of the people in general, Bidambanam—misleading, Na—never, Yasya—his, Kaschit—anyone, Dayito—object of specific favor, Asti—there is, Karhichit—anywhere, Desyas—object of envy, Yasmin—unto him, Visama—partiality, Mati—onception, Nrinam—of the people.
TRANSLATION
Nobody can understand Oh the Lord, about Your transcendental pastime which appears to be humanly but it is misleading. You have no specific object of favor neither You have anybody object of envy. Conception of partiality upon You is imagination by the people in general.
PURPORT
Lord's mercy upon the fallen souls is equally distributed and he has nobody as the object of specific favor neither He has anybody as the specific object of hostility. The very conception of the Personality of Godhead as human being is misleading. His pastimes appear to be exactly like the human being but actually they are transcendental without any tinge of material contamination. He is undoubtedly known as partial to His pure devotees but in fact He is never partial as much as the sun is never partial to anybody. By utilising the sun rays sometimes even the stones become valuable while a blind man cannot see the sun although there is enough sun rays before him. Darkness and light are two opposite conceptions in relation with the sun rays but is does not mean that the sun is partial in the matter of distributing its rays. The sun rays are open to everyone but it depends on the capacity of the receptacle. Foolish people think it that devotional service is a sort of flattering the Lord to get special mercy. Factually the pure devotees who are engaged in the transcendental loving service of the Lord are not merchantile community. A merchantile house renders service to somebody in exchange of values. The pure devotee does not do render service unto the Lord for such exchange and therefore full mercy of the Lord is open for them. Suffering man, needy man, inquisitive person or the philosopher make temporary connection with the Lord for serving a particular purpose. When the purpose is served, there is no more relation with the Lord. A suffering man, if he is pious at all, prays to the Lord for his recovery. But as soon at the recovery is done, in most cases the suffering man no more cares to keep any connection with the Lord. As such mercy of the Lord although open for him also, he is reluctant to receive it. That makes the difference between a pure devotee and a mixed devotee. Those who are completely against the service of the Lord are considered to be in the abject darkness; those who ask for the Lord's favor only at the time of necessity are partial receipient of the mercy of the Lord and those who are cent percent engaged in the service of the Lord are fully recipient of the mercy of the Lord. Such partiality of receiving the Lord's mercy is relative to the recipient and it is not due to the partiality of distribution by the all merciful Lord.
When the Lord descends on this material world by His all merciful energy certainly He plays like the human being and therefore it appears that the Lord is partial to His devotees only but that is not a fact. Even by such manifestation of partiality by the Lord apparently, His mercy is equally distributed. In the battle field of Kurukshetra all persons who died in the fight before the presence of the Lord got salvation without the necessary qualification, because death before the presence of the Lord purifies the passing soul from the effects of all sins and therefore the dying man gets place somewhere in the transcendetal abode. Some how or other if some body puts himself open in the sun rays he is sure to get the requisite benefit both by heat and ultraviolet rays. Therefore, the conclusion is that the Lord is never partial but it is a wrong conception of the people in general to think about Him as partial.