SB 9.11.6
A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada
TEXT 6
- aprattaṁ nas tvayā kiṁ nu
- bhagavan bhuvaneśvara
- yan no 'ntar-hṛdayaṁ viśya
- tamo haṁsi sva-rociṣā
SYNONYMS
aprattam — not given; naḥ — unto us; tvayā — by Your Lordship; kim — what; nu — indeed; bhagavan — O Supreme Lord; bhuvana-īśvara — O master of the whole universe; yat — because; naḥ — our; antaḥ-hṛdayam — within the core of the heart; viśya — entering; tamaḥ — the darkness of ignorance; haṁsi — You annihilate; sva-rociṣā — by Your own effulgence.
TRANSLATION
O Lord, You are the master of the entire universe. What have You not given to us? You have entered the core of our hearts and dissipated the darkness of our ignorance by Your effulgence. This is the supreme gift. We do not need a material donation.
PURPORT
When Dhruva Mahārāja was offered a benediction by the Supreme Personality of Godhead, he replied, "O my Lord, I am fully satisfied. I do not need any material benediction." Similarly, when Prahlāda Mahārāja was offered a benediction by Lord Nṛsiṁhadeva, he also refused to accept it and instead declared that a devotee should not be like a vaṇik, a mercantile man who gives something in exchange for some profit. One who becomes a devotee for some material profit is not a pure devotee. Brāhmaṇas are always enlightened by the Supreme Personality of Godhead within the heart (sarvasya cāhaṁ hṛdi sanniviṣṭo mattaḥ smṛtir jñānam apohanaṁ ca (BG 15.15)). And because the brāhmaṇas and Vaiṣṇavas are always directed by the Supreme Personality of Godhead, they are not greedy for material wealth. What is absolutely necessary they possess, but they do not want an expanded kingdom. An example of this was given by Vāmanadeva. Acting as a brahmacārī, Lord Vāmanadeva wanted only three paces of land. Aspiring to possess more and more for personal sense gratification is simply ignorance, and this ignorance is conspicuous by its absence from the heart of a brāhmaṇa or Vaiṣṇava.