Verse Text
tatra jṣānena, yathā vairāgya-śatake (55) bhartṛhariḥ –
aśnīmahi vayaṁ bhikṣām āśāvāso vasīmahi |
śayīmahi mahī-pṛṣṭhe kurvīmahi kim īśvaraiḥ ||145||
Translation
From attaining realization of the Lord, from Bhartṛhari’s Vairāgya-śataka: When I attain knowledge related to the Lord, I will eat only begged food and live without clothing. I will sleep on the ground. What is the necessity of serving the king or other authorities?
Purport (Jiva Goswami)
This is a glorification of knowledge related to the Lord. Īśvaraiḥ means “by kings and others.”
Purport (Nectar of Devotion)
According to the opinion of Bhartṛhari, a learned scholar, when a person is elevated to this state of endurance, he thinks as follows: “I do not wish to be a highly posted government servant. I shall prefer to remain naked, without proper garments. I shall prefer to lie down on the ground without any mattress. And despite all these disadvantages, I shall refuse to serve anyone, even the government.” In other words, when one is in ecstatic love with the Personality of Godhead, he can endure any kind of disadvantages calculated under the material concept of life.