Text 27
śrī-rudra uvāca
yūyaṁ vediṣadaḥ putrā
viditaṁ vaś cikīrṣitam
anugrahāya bhadraṁ va
evaṁ me darśanaṁ kṛtam
śrī-rudraḥ uvāca — Lord Śiva began to speak; yūyam — all of you; vediṣadaḥ — of King Prācīnabarhi; putrāḥ — sons; viditam — knowing; vaḥ — your; cikīrṣitam — desires; anugrahāya — for the matter of showing you mercy; bhadram — all good fortune unto you; vaḥ — all of you; evam — thus; me — my; darśanam — audience; kṛtam — you have done.
Lord Śiva said: You are all the sons of King Prācīnabarhi, and I wish all good fortune to you. I also know what you are going to do, and therefore I am visible to you just to show my mercy upon you.
By these words Lord Śiva indicates that what the princes were going to do was known to him. It is a fact that they were going to worship Lord Viṣṇu by severe austerities and penances. Knowing this fact, Lord Śiva immediately became very pleased, as apparent by the next verse. This indicates that a person who is not yet a devotee of the Supreme Personality of Godhead but who desires to serve the Supreme Lord receives the benedictions of the demigods, headed by the chief demigod, Lord Śiva. Thus a devotee of the Lord does not need to try to please the demigods separately. Simply by worshiping the Supreme Lord, a devotee can please all of them. Nor does he have to ask the demigods for material benedictions, for the demigods, being pleased with the devotee, automatically offer him everything that he needs. The demigods are servants of the Lord, and they are always prepared to help a devotee in all circumstances. Therefore Śrīla Bilvamaṅgala Ṭhākura said that if one has unalloyed devotion for the Supreme Lord, the goddess of liberation is ready to serve him, to say nothing of the gods of material opulences. Indeed, all the demigods are simply waiting for an opportunity to serve the devotee. Thus there is no need for a devotee of Kṛṣṇa to endeavor for material opulence or liberation. By being situated in the transcendental position of devotional service, he receives all the benefits of dharma, artha, kāma and mokṣa.