Devanagari
न वै जनो जातु कथञ्चनाव्रजे-
न्मुकुन्दसेव्यन्यवदङ्ग संसृतिम् ।
स्मरन्मुकुन्दाङ्घ्र्युरपगूहनं पुन-
र्विहातुमिच्छेन्न रसग्रहो जन: ॥ १९ ॥
Verse text
na vai jano jātu kathaṣcanāvrajen
mukunda-sevy anyavad aṅga saṁsṛtim
smaran mukundāṅghry-upagūhanaṁ punar
vihātum icchen na rasa-graho janaḥ
Synonyms
na
—
never
;
vai
—
certainly
;
janaḥ
—
a person
;
jātu
—
at any time
;
kathaṣcana
—
somehow or other
;
āvrajet
—
does not undergo
;
mukunda
—
sevī — the devotee of the Lord
;
anyavat
—
like others
;
aṅga
—
O my dear
;
saṁsṛtim
—
material existence
;
smaran
—
remembering
;
mukunda
—
aṅghri — the lotus feet of the Lord
;
upagūhanam
—
embracing
;
punaḥ
—
again
;
vihātum
—
willing to give up
;
icchet
—
desire
;
na
—
never
;
rasa
—
grahaḥ — one who has relished the mellow
;
janaḥ
—
person .
Translation
My dear Vyāsa, even though a devotee of Lord Kṛṣṇa sometimes falls down somehow or other, he certainly does not undergo material existence like others [fruitive workers, etc.] because a person who has once relished the taste of the lotus feet of the Lord can do nothing but remember that ecstasy again and again.
Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)
Oh! The person who serves Mukunda will never under any condition return to the material world, unlike practitioners of other processes. Remembering the embrace of the Lord’s lotus feet, eager for that taste he has experienced, he will not desire to give up those feet again.
Purport
A devotee of the Lord automatically becomes uninterested in the enchantment of material existence because he is
rasa-graha,
or one who has tasted the sweetness of the lotus feet of Lord Kṛṣṇa. There are certainly many instances where devotees of the Lord have fallen down due to uncongenial association, just like fruitive workers, who are always prone to degradation. But even though he falls down, a devotee is never to be considered the same as a fallen
karmī.
A
karmī
suffers the result of his own fruitive reactions, whereas a devotee is reformed by chastisement directed by the Lord Himself. The sufferings of an orphan and the sufferings of a beloved child of a king are not one and the same. An orphan is really poor because he has no one to take care of him, but a beloved son of a rich man, although he appears to be on the same level as the orphan, is always under the vigilance of his capable father. A devotee of the Lord, due to wrong association, sometimes imitates the fruitive workers. The fruitive workers want to lord it over the material world. Similarly, a neophyte devotee foolishly thinks of accumulating some material power in exchange for devotional service. Such foolish devotees are sometimes put into difficulty by the Lord Himself. As a special favor, He may remove all material paraphernalia. By such action, the bewildered devotee is forsaken by all friends and relatives, and so he comes to his senses again by the mercy of the Lord and is set right to execute his devotional service.
In the
Bhagavad-gītā
it is also said that such fallen devotees are given a chance to take birth in a family of highly qualified
brāhmaṇas
or in a rich mercantile family. A devotee in such a position is not as fortunate as one who is chastised by the Lord and put into a position seemingly of helplessness. The devotee who becomes helpless by the will of the Lord is more fortunate than those who are born in good families. The fallen devotees born in a good family may forget the lotus feet of the Lord because they are less fortunate, but the devotee who is put into a forlorn condition is more fortunate because he swiftly returns to the lotus feet of the Lord, thinking himself helpless all around.
Pure devotional service is so spiritually relishable that a devotee becomes automatically uninterested in material enjoyment. That is the sign of perfection in progressive devotional service. A pure devotee continuously remembers the lotus feet of Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa and does not forget Him even for a moment, not even in exchange for all the opulence of the three worlds.
Commentary (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)
This verse elaborates the point that there is no misfortune for the devotee. Even if overcome because of poor determination, the person who serves Mukunda neverna jātu), returns to saṁsāra, the place for enjoying the results of karma, whereas those practicing karma (anyavat) return. That is because he does not experience happiness and distress from karmas, since he experiences only the fruit of happiness and distress directly given by the Lord.
tvad avagamī na vetti bhavad-uttha-śubhāśubhayor
When a person realizes You, he no longer cares about his good and bad fortune arising from past pious and sinful acts, since it is You alone who control this good and bad fortune. SB 10.87.40
Na karma-bandhanam janma vaiṣṇavānām ca vidyate
The Vaiṣṇavas do not have rebirth caused by karma. Padma Purāṇa
Remembering from previous practice alone the mental embrace (upagūhanam) of the Lord’s lotus feet, he has no desire to give that up. The verse does not say “remembering his lotus feet” but rather “remembering the embrace of his lotus feet.” And the word “again” is used. The implication of these two words is that even though he may give up by his own choice the worship, once, twice or three times because of poor determination, after some time, by remembering his previous state of bliss from remembering the Lord and also remembering his present state of distress from not remembering the Lord, he repents. “Oh! Oh! What have I foolishly done? Let that be. I will not again abandon worship of Lord.” He again begins worshipping the Lord.
The verse also uses the phrase “does not desire to give up” instead of “does not give up.” This implies that he desires that he be devoid of pride in his practice. The accomplishment is in the hands of the Lord. The cause of not desiring to give up is then mentioned. Rasa-graha means one who is eager for tasting, or one who has a taste which is something like a ghost which cannot be given up, “haunted by rasa.” The meaning is then that worship after the stages of niṣthā, ruci and āsakti, becomes actual rasa at the stage of rati. However, even from the first day of worshipping the Lord, there is certainly a portion of tasting rasa in a very covered form. Thus it is said:
bhaktiḥ pareśānubhavo viraktir anyatra caiṣa trika eka-kālaḥ
prapadyamānasya yathāśnataḥ syus tuṣṭiḥ puṣṭiḥ kṣud-apāyo ’nu-ghāsam
Devotion, direct experience of the Supreme Lord, and detachment from other things-these three occur simultaneously for one who has taken shelter of Kṛṣṇa, in the same way that pleasure, fullness of the stomach and relief from hunger are experienced simultaneously, with each bite, for a person engaged in eating. SB 11.2.42