SB 6.11.22

Srimad-Bhagavatam - Sixth Canto - Chapter 11: The Transcendental Qualities of Vṛtrāsura

SB 6.11.21 - SB 6.11.23

His Divine Grace
A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada

TEXT 22

puṁsāṁ kilaikānta-dhiyāṁ svakānāṁ

yāḥ sampado divi bhūmau rasāyām

na rāti yad dveṣa udvega ādhir

madaḥ kalir vyasanaṁ samprayāsaḥ

SYNONYMS

puṁsām — unto persons; kila — certainly; ekānta-dhiyām — who are advanced in spiritual consciousness; svakānām — who are recognized by the Supreme Personality of Godhead as His own; yāḥ — which; sampadaḥ — opulences; divi — in the upper planetary systems; bhūmau — in the middle planetary systems; rasāyām — and in the lower planetary systems; na — not; rāti — bestows; yat — from which; dveṣaḥ — envy; udvegaḥ — anxiety; ādhiḥ — mental agitation; madaḥ — pride; kaliḥ — quarrel; vyasanam — distress due to loss; samprayāsaḥ — great endeavor.

TRANSLATION

Persons who fully surrender at the lotus feet of the Supreme Personality of Godhead and always think of His lotus feet are accepted and recognized by the Lord as His own personal assistants or servants. The Lord never bestows upon such servants the brilliant opulences of the upper, lower and middle planetary systems of this material world. When one possesses material opulence in any of these three divisions of the universe, his possessions naturally increase his enmity, anxiety, mental agitation, pride and belligerence. Thus one goes through much endeavor to increase and maintain his possessions, and he suffers great unhappiness when he loses them.

PURPORT

In Bhagavad-gītā (BG 4.11) the Lord says:

ye yathā māṁ prapadyante

tāṁs tathaiva bhajāmy aham

mama vartmānuvartante

manuṣyāḥ pārtha sarvaśaḥ

"As devotees surrender unto Me, I reward them accordingly. Everyone follows My path in all respects, O son of Pṛthā." Both Indra and Vṛtrāsura were certainly devotees of the Lord, although Indra took instructions from Viṣṇu to kill Vṛtrāsura. The Lord was actually more favorable to Vṛtrāsura because after being killed by Indra's thunderbolt, Vṛtrāsura would go back to Godhead, whereas the victorious Indra would rot in this material world. Because both of them were devotees, the Lord awarded them the respective benedictions they wanted. Vṛtrāsura never wanted material possessions, for he knew very well the nature of such possessions. To accumulate material possessions, one must labor very hard, and when he gets them he creates many enemies because this material world is always full of rivalry. If one becomes rich, his friends or relatives are envious. For ekānta-bhaktas, unalloyed devotees, Kṛṣṇa therefore never provides material possessions. A devotee sometimes needs some material possessions for preaching, but the possessions of a preacher are not like those of a karmī. A karmī's possessions are achieved as a result of karma, but those of a devotee are arranged by the Supreme Personality of Godhead just to facilitate his devotional activities. Because a devotee never uses material possessions for any purpose other than the service of the Lord, the possessions of a devotee are not to be compared to those of a karmī.

SB 6.11.21 - SB 6.11.23