Devanagari
अजुष्टग्राम्यविषयावनपत्यौ च दम्पती ।
न वव्राथेऽपवगन मे मोहितौ देवमायया ॥ ३९ ॥
Verse text
ajuṣṭa-grāmya-viṣayāv
anapatyau ca dam-patī
na vavrāthe ’pavargaṁ me
mohitau deva-māyayā
Synonyms
ajuṣṭa
—
grāmya — viṣayau — for sex life and to beget a child like Me
;
anapatyau
—
because of possessing no son
;
ca
—
also
;
dam
—
patī — both husband and wife
;
na
—
never
;
vavrāthe
—
asked for (any other benediction)
;
apavargam
—
liberation from this world
;
me
—
from Me
;
mohitau
—
being so much attracted
;
deva
—
māyayā — by transcendental love for Me (desiring Me as your beloved son) .
Translation
Being husband and wife but always sonless, you were attracted by sexual desires, for by the influence of devamāyā, transcendental love, you wanted to have Me as your son. Therefore you never desired to be liberated from this material world.
Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)
Being husband and wife but always sonless, you were attracted by sexual desires, for by the influence of devamāyā, transcendental love, you wanted to have Me as your son. Therefore you never desired to be liberated from this material world.
KB 10.3.39
“Although you saw Me personally, instead of asking for your complete liberation from material bondage, under the influence of My energy you asked Me to become your son.”
In other words, to appear in the material world the Lord selected His mother and father—namely Pṛśni and Sutapā, respectively. Whenever the Lord comes as a human being, He must have a mother and a father, so He selected Pṛśni and Sutapā perpetually as His mother and father. And on account of this, neither Pṛśni nor Sutapā could ask the Lord for liberation. Liberation is not so important as the transcendental loving service of the Lord. The Lord could have awarded Pṛśni and Sutapā immediate liberation, but He preferred to keep them within this material world for His different appearances, as will be explained in the following verses.
Purport
Vasudeva and Devakī had been
dam-patī,
husband and wife, since the time of Sutapā and Pṛśni, and they wanted to remain husband and wife in order to have the Supreme Personality of Godhead as their son. This attachment came about by the influence of
devamāyā.
Loving Kṛṣṇa as one’s son is a Vedic principle. Vasudeva and Devakī never desired anything but to have the Lord as their son, yet for this purpose they apparently wanted to live like ordinary
gṛhasthas
for sexual indulgence. Although this was a transaction of spiritual potency, their desire appears like attachment for sex in conjugal life. If one wants to return home, back to Godhead, one must give up such desires. This is possible only when one develops intense love for the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu has said:
niṣkiṣcanasya bhagavad-bhajanonmukhasya
pāraṁ paraṁ jigamiṣor bhava-sāgarasya
(Cc. Madhya 11.8)
If one wants to go back home, back to Godhead, one must be
niṣkiṣcana,
free from all material desires. Therefore, instead of desiring to have the Lord come here and become one’s son, one should desire to become free from all material desires (
anyābhilāṣitā-śūnyam
) and go back home, back to Godhead. Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu teaches us in His
Śikṣāṣṭaka:
na dhanaṁ na janaṁ na sundarīṁ
kavitāṁ vā jagad-īśa kāmaye
mama janmani janmanīśvare
bhavatād bhaktir ahaitukī tvayi
“O almighty Lord, I have no desire to accumulate wealth, nor do I desire beautiful women, nor do I want any number of followers. I only want Your causeless devotional service, birth after birth.” One should not ask the Lord to fulfill any materially tainted desires.
Purport (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)
Maya here refers to affection for their son, for Bhagavatam 10.8.43 says: Vaisnavi vyatanon mayam putra sneha mayim vibhur (Krsna spread out his maya in the form of affection for a son)P. Mohitau here means that they were overcome with bliss. "Being childless and detached from material enjoyment, but overcome with bliss by parental affection, you did not pray for liberation."
Purport (Jiva Goswami)
Because of your love for me, you did not have any interest in other objects. But not only that, you had no interest in liberation, though you were qualified and though I could have given it to you. That is expressed in this verse. You had no desire for material pleasures. You were devoid of conceptions of body and place which are based on ahaṅkāra. You were without children. You had no possessiveness. You had conduct suitable for libration. Verse 34 mentioned that they were completely purified of contamination. This indicates that liberation was possible for them since only the Lord gives liberation. The Lord was called “king of benedictors” in verse 38. You, though qualified for liberation, did not ask me, who am qualified to give liberation. The cause is explained. You were bewildered by my mercy (māyayā), which suddenly produced affection in you for having me as your child. Or you were bewildered by my mercy which made me desire to be pampered as your son. Other sentiments are derided. An example is the following verse.
ālokya-sārṣṭi-sāmīpya- sārūpyaikatvam apy uta
dīyamānaṁ na gṛhṇanti vinā mat-sevanaṁ janāḥ
A pure devotee does not accept any kind of liberation—sālokya, sārṣṭi, sāmīpya, sārūpya or ekatva—even though they are offered by the Lord. SB 3.29.13
Purport (Sanatana Goswami)
You did not accept liberation. Since you were detached from material objects, without developing renunciation, you did not have a taste for liberation. Or even though you did not enjoy material objects, and did not have children, you accept me as a son, and not material enjoyment or many children. And you did not even accept liberation. The cause of all this was that you were not bewildered (amohitau) by māyā. Liberation is accepted by persons under illusion.