Text 21
maitreya uvāca
evaṁ bruvāṇaṁ puruṣārtha-bhājanaṁ
janārdanaṁ prāñjalayaḥ pracetasaḥ
tad-darśana-dhvasta-tamo-rajo-malā
girāgṛṇan gadgadayā suhṛttamam
maitreyaḥ uvāca — Maitreya said; evam — thus; bruvāṇam — speaking; puruṣa-artha — of the ultimate goal of life; bhājanam — the bestower; jana-ardanam — who takes away all the disadvantages of the devotee; prāñjalayaḥ — with folded hands; pracetasaḥ — the Pracetā brothers; tat — Him; darśana — by seeing; dhvasta — dissipated; tamaḥ — of darkness; rajaḥ — of passion; malāḥ — whose contamination; girā — with a voice; agṛṇan — offered prayers; gadgadayā — faltering; suhṛt-tamam — unto the greatest of all friends.
The great sage Maitreya said: After the Personality of Godhead spoke thus, the Pracetās began to offer Him prayers. The Lord is the bestower of all success in life and is the supreme benefactor. He is also the supreme friend who takes away all miserable conditions experienced by a devotee. In a faltering voice, due to ecstasy, the Pracetās began to offer prayers. They were purified by the presence of the Lord, who was before them face to face.
The Lord is herein described as puruṣārtha-bhājanam, the bestower of the ultimate goal of life. Whatever success we want in life can be attained by the mercy of the Lord. Since the Pracetās had already attained the Lord’s mercy, they were no longer subject to the contamination of the material modes. The material modes dissipated from them just as the darkness of night immediately dissipates when the sun rises. Because the Lord appeared before them, naturally all the contaminations of the material qualities of rajas and tamas completely disappeared. Similarly, when an unalloyed devotee chants the Hare Kṛṣṇa mahā-mantra, he is also purified of all material contamination because the name of the Lord and the Lord are identical. As stated in Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam (1.2.17):
śṛṇvatāṁ sva-kathāḥ kṛṣṇaḥ
puṇya-śravaṇa-kīrtanaḥ
hṛdy antaḥ-stho hy abhadrāṇi
vidhunoti suhṛt satām
“Śrī Kṛṣṇa, the Personality of Godhead, who is the Paramātmā [Supersoul] in everyone’s heart and the benefactor of the truthful devotee, cleanses desire for material enjoyment from the heart of the devotee who has developed the urge to hear His messages, which are in themselves virtuous when properly heard and chanted.”
The holy name of the Lord is the Lord Himself. If one chants and hears, he becomes purified. Gradually all material contamination disappears. The Pracetās were already purified due to the Lord’s presence before them, and they could therefore offer the proper prayers with folded hands. In other words, as soon as devotees are engaged in devotional service, they become transcendental to all material contamination immediately, as confirmed in Bhagavad-gītā (sa guṇān samatītyaitān brahma-bhūyāya kalpate). Sometimes the devotees are dissatisfied due to their not seeing the Supreme Personality of Godhead personally. When the Pracetās saw the Supreme Lord personally present, their unhappiness vanished.