SB 9.4.65
A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada
TEXT 65
- ye dārāgāra-putrāpta-
- prāṇān vittam imaṁ param
- hitvā māṁ śaraṇaṁ yātāḥ
- kathaṁ tāṁs tyaktum utsahe
SYNONYMS
ye — those devotees of Mine who; dāra — wife; agāra — house; putra — children, sons; āpta — relatives, society; prāṇān — even life; vittam — wealth; imam — all these; param — elevation to the heavenly planets or becoming one by merging into Brahman; hitvā — giving up (all these ambitions and paraphernalia); mām — unto Me; śaraṇam — shelter; yātāḥ — having taken; katham — how; tān — such persons; tyaktum — to give them up; utsahe — I can be enthusiastic in that way (it is not possible).
TRANSLATION
Since pure devotees give up their homes, wives, children, relatives, riches and even their lives simply to serve Me, without any desire for material improvement in this life or in the next, how can I give up such devotees at any time?
PURPORT
The Supreme Personality of Godhead is worshiped by the words brahmaṇya-devāya go-brāhmaṇa-hitāya ca. Thus He is the well-wisher of the brāhmaṇas. Durvāsā Muni was certainly a very great brāhmaṇa, but because he was a nondevotee, he could not sacrifice everything in devotional service. Great mystic yogīs are actually self-interested. The proof is that when Durvāsā Muni created a demon to kill Mahārāja Ambarīṣa, the King stayed fixed in his place, praying to the Supreme Personality of Godhead and depending solely and wholly on Him, whereas when Durvāsā Muni was chased by the Sudarśana cakra by the supreme will of the Lord, he was so perturbed that he fled all over the world and tried to take shelter in every nook and corner of the universe. At last, in fear of his life, he approached Lord Brahmā, Lord Śiva and ultimately the Supreme Personality of Godhead. He was so interested in his own body that he wanted to kill the body of a Vaiṣṇava. Therefore, he did not have very good intelligence, and how can an unintelligent person be delivered by the Supreme Personality of Godhead? The Lord certainly tries to give all protection to His devotees who have given up everything for the sake of serving Him.
Another point in this verse is that attachment to dārāgāra-putrāpta—home, wife, children, friendship, society and love—is not the way to achieve the favor of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. One who is attached to hearth and home for material pleasure cannot become a pure devotee. Sometimes a pure devotee may have a habit or attraction for wife, children and home but at the same time want to serve the Supreme Lord to the best of his ability. For such a devotee, the Lord makes a special arrangement to take away the objects of his false attachment and thus free him from attachment to wife, home, children, friends and so on. This is special mercy bestowed upon the devotee to bring him back home, back to Godhead.