Text 39
ajuṣṭa-grāmya-viṣayāv
anapatyau ca dam-patī
na vavrāthe ’pavargaṁ me
mohitau deva-māyayā
ajuṣṭa-grāmya-viṣayau — for sex life and to beget a child like Me; anapatyau — because of possessing no son; ca — also; dam-patī — both husband and wife; na — never; vavrāthe — asked for (any other benediction); apavargam — liberation from this world; me — from Me; mohitau — being so much attracted; deva-māyayā — by transcendental love for Me (desiring Me as your beloved son).
Being husband and wife but always sonless, you were attracted by sexual desires, for by the influence of devamāyā, transcendental love, you wanted to have Me as your son. Therefore you never desired to be liberated from this material world.
Vasudeva and Devakī had been dam-patī, husband and wife, since the time of Sutapā and Pṛśni, and they wanted to remain husband and wife in order to have the Supreme Personality of Godhead as their son. This attachment came about by the influence of devamāyā. Loving Kṛṣṇa as one’s son is a Vedic principle. Vasudeva and Devakī never desired anything but to have the Lord as their son, yet for this purpose they apparently wanted to live like ordinary gṛhasthas for sexual indulgence. Although this was a transaction of spiritual potency, their desire appears like attachment for sex in conjugal life. If one wants to return home, back to Godhead, one must give up such desires. This is possible only when one develops intense love for the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu has said:
niṣkiñcanasya bhagavad-bhajanonmukhasya
pāraṁ paraṁ jigamiṣor bhava-sāgarasya
(Cc. Madhya 11.8)
If one wants to go back home, back to Godhead, one must be niṣkiñcana, free from all material desires. Therefore, instead of desiring to have the Lord come here and become one’s son, one should desire to become free from all material desires (anyābhilāṣitā-śūnyam) and go back home, back to Godhead. Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu teaches us in His Śikṣāṣṭaka:
na dhanaṁ na janaṁ na sundarīṁ
kavitāṁ vā jagad-īśa kāmaye
mama janmani janmanīśvare
bhavatād bhaktir ahaitukī tvayi
“O almighty Lord, I have no desire to accumulate wealth, nor do I desire beautiful women, nor do I want any number of followers. I only want Your causeless devotional service, birth after birth.” One should not ask the Lord to fulfill any materially tainted desires.