Text 44
yo dustyajān kṣiti-suta-svajanārtha-dārān
prārthyāṁ śriyaṁ sura-varaiḥ sadayāvalokām
naicchan nṛpas tad-ucitaṁ mahatāṁ madhudviṭ-
sevānurakta-manasām abhavo ’pi phalguḥ
yaḥ — who; dustyajān — very difficult to give up; kṣiti — the earth; suta — children; sva-jana-artha-dārān — relatives, riches and a beautiful wife; prārthyām — desirable; śriyam — the goddess of fortune; sura-varaiḥ — by the best of the demigods; sa-daya-avalokām — whose merciful glance; na — not; aicchat — desired; nṛpaḥ — the King; tat-ucitam — this is quite befitting him; mahatām — of great personalities (mahātmās); madhu-dviṭ — of Lord Kṛṣṇa, who killed the demon Madhu; sevā-anurakta — attracted by the loving service; manasām — of those whose minds; abhavaḥ api — even the position of liberation; phalguḥ — insignificant.
Śukadeva Gosvāmī continued: My dear King, the activities of Bharata Mahārāja are wonderful. He gave up everything difficult for others to give up. He gave up his kingdom, his wife and his family. His opulence was so great that even the demigods envied it, yet he gave it up. It was quite befitting a great personality like him to be a great devotee. He could renounce everything because he was so attracted to the beauty, opulence, reputation, knowledge, strength and renunciation of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Kṛṣṇa. Kṛṣṇa is so attractive that one can give up all desirable things for His sake. Indeed, even liberation is considered insignificant for those whose minds are attracted to the loving service of the Lord.
This verse confirms Kṛṣṇa’s all-attractiveness. Mahārāja Bharata was so attracted to Kṛṣṇa that he gave up all his material possessions. Generally materialistic people are attracted by such possessions.
ato gṛha-kṣetra-sutāpta-vittair
janasya moho ’yam ahaṁ mameti
(Bhāg. 5.5.8)
“One becomes attracted to his body, home, property, children, relatives and wealth. In this way one increases life’s illusions and thinks in terms of ‘I and mine.’” The attraction for material things is certainly due to illusion. There is no value in attraction to material things, for the conditioned soul is diverted by them. One’s life is successful if he is absorbed in the attraction of Kṛṣṇa’s strength, beauty and pastimes as described in the Tenth Canto of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. The Māyāvādīs are attracted to merging into the existence of the Lord, but Kṛṣṇa is more attractive than the desire to merge. The word abhavaḥ means “not to take birth again in this material world.” A devotee doesn’t care whether he is going to be reborn or not. He is simply satisfied with the Lord’s service in any condition. That is real mukti.
īhā yasya harer dāsye
karmaṇā manasā girā
nikhilāsv apy avasthāsu
jīvan-muktaḥ sa ucyate
“One who acts to serve Kṛṣṇa with his body, mind, intelligence and words is a liberated person, even within this material world.” (Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu 1.2.187) A person who always desires to serve Kṛṣṇa is interested in ways to convince people that there is a Supreme Personality of Godhead and that the Supreme Personality of Godhead is Kṛṣṇa. That is his ambition. It doesn’t matter whether he is in heaven or in hell. This is called uttamaśloka-lālasa.