Verse Text
ataeva śrī-bhāgavate ṣaṣṭhe—
muktānām api siddhānāṁ nārāyaṇa-parāyaṇaḥ |
sudurlabhaḥ praśāntātmā koṭiṣv api mahā-mune ||52||
Translation
In the Sixth Canto, it says: O great sage! Among many millions who are liberated and perfect in knowledge of liberation, one may be a devotee of Lord Nārāyaṇa, or Kṛṣṇa. Such a devotee, who is fully peaceful, is extremely rare. SB 6.14.5
Purport (Jiva Goswami)
Among the liberated (muktānām) who are still in their material bodies, but without bodily identification, and among those who have attained spiritual bodies (siddhānām) in the spiritual world (sālokyā etc.), even among ten millions of such persons, a person who desires only service to Nārāyaṇa is very rare.
Purport (Nectar of Devotion)
Similarly, in the Sixth Canto, Fourteenth Chapter, verses 4-6, of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, Mahārāja Parīkṣit inquires from Śukadeva Gosvāmī, “My dear brāhmaṇa, I understand that the demon Vṛtrāsura was a greatly sinful person and that his mentality was completely absorbed in the modes of passion and ignorance. How did he develop to such a perfectional stage of devotional service to Nārāyaṇa? I have heard that even great persons who have undergone severe austerities and who are liberated with full knowledge must strive to become devotees of the Lord. It is understood that such persons are very rare and almost never to be seen, so I am astonished that Vṛtrāsura became such a devotee!”
In the above verses, the most important thing to be noted is that there may be many liberated persons who have merged into the existence of the impersonal Brahman, but a devotee of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Nārāyaṇa, is very, very rare. Even out of millions of liberated persons, only one is fortunate enough to become a devotee.