Verse Text
paṣcame śrī-śukoktau—
yo dustyajān kṣiti-suta-svajanārtha-dārān
prārthyāṁ śriyaṁ sura-varaiḥ sadayāvalokām |
naicchan nṛpas tad ucitaṁ mahatāṁ madhudviṭ-
sevānurakta-manasām abhavo ’pi phalguḥ ||31||
Translation
In the Fifth Canto Śuka says: The king gave up everything that was 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 up that wealth endowed with attractive glances. It was quite befitting for great devotees whose minds are attracted to the service of the enemy of the Madhu demon. Indeed, even liberation is considered insignificant for those whose minds are attracted to the loving service of the Lord. SB 5.14.44
Purport (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)
Wealth sends out seemingly kind glances, which say, “Do not renounce and torture your body with austerities. Stay in your house and I will take care of you!” For such devotees (like Bharata), liberation (abhavaḥ) is insignificant (phalguḥ). The devotees rule over liberation also, but they are not attracted to it.
Purport (Jiva Goswami)
The person referred to here is Bharata, the son of Ṛsabha.
Purport (Nectar of Devotion)
A similar statement is found in Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, Fifth Canto, Fourteenth Chapter, verse 44. Śukadeva Gosvāmī addresses Parīkṣit Mahārāja there and says, “The great soul King Bharata was so much attached to the service of the lotus feet of Kṛṣṇa that he very easily gave up his lordship over the earthly planet and his affection for his children, society, friends, royal opulence and beautiful wife. He was so very lucky that the goddess of fortune was pleased to offer him all kinds of material concessions, but he never accepted any of these material opulences.” Śukadeva Gosvāmī praises this behavior of King Bharata very highly. He says, “Any person whose heart is attracted by the transcendental qualities of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Madhusūdana, does not care even for that liberation which is aspired to by many great sages, what to speak of material opulences.”