SB 10.32.20 · Srimad-Bhagavatam

Devanagari

नाहं तु सख्यो भजतोऽपि जन्तून् भजाम्यमीषामनुवृत्तिवृत्तये । यथाधनो लब्धधने विनष्टे तच्चिन्तयान्यन्निभृतो न वेद ॥ २० ॥

Verse text

nāhaṁ tu sakhyo bhajato ’pi jantūn bhajāmy amīṣām anuvṛtti-vṛttaye yathādhano labdha-dhane vinaṣṭe tac-cintayānyan nibhṛto na veda

Synonyms

na — do not ; aham — I ; tu — on the other hand ; sakhyaḥ — O friends ; bhajataḥ — worshiping ; api — even ; jantūn — with living beings ; bhajāmi — reciprocate ; amīṣām — their ; anuvṛtti — propensity (for pure love) ; vṛttaye — in order to impel ; yathā — just as ; adhanaḥ — a poor man ; labdha — having obtained ; dhane — wealth ; vinaṣṭe — and it being lost ; tat — of that ; cintayā — with anxious thought ; anyat — anything else ; nibhṛtaḥ — filled ; na veda — does not know .

Translation

But the reason I do not immediately reciprocate the affection of living beings even when they worship Me, O gopīs, is that I want to intensify their loving devotion. They then become like a poor man who has gained some wealth and then lost it, and who thus becomes so anxious about it that he can think of nothing else.

Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)

But the reason I do not immediately reciprocate the affection of living beings even when they worship Me, O gopīs, is that I want to intensify their loving devotion. They then become like a poor man who has gained some wealth and then lost it, and who thus becomes so anxious about it that he can think of nothing else. KB 10.32.20 “My dear friends,” Kṛṣṇa continued, “you might be aggrieved by My words and acts, but you must know that sometimes I do not reciprocate My devotees’ dealings with Me. My devotees are very much attached to Me, but sometimes I do not reciprocate their feelings properly in order to increase their love for Me more and more. If I can very easily be approached by them, they might think, ‘Kṛṣṇa is so easily available.’ So sometimes I do not respond. If a person has no money but after some time accumulates some wealth and then loses it, he will think of the lost property twenty-four hours a day. Similarly, in order to increase the love of My devotees, sometimes I appear to be lost to them, and instead of forgetting Me, they feel their loving sentiments for Me increase.

Purport

Lord Kṛṣṇa states in Bhagavad-gītā, ye yathā māṁ prapadyante tāṁs tathaiva bhajāmy aham: “As people approach Me, I reciprocate with them accordingly.” Yet even if the Lord is approached by someone with devotion, to intensify the devotee’s love the Lord may not immediately reciprocate fully. In fact, the Lord is truly reciprocating. After all, a sincere devotee always prays to the Lord, “Please help me to love You purely.” Therefore the Lord’s so-called neglect is actually the fulfillment of the devotee’s prayer. Lord Kṛṣṇa intensifies our love for Him by apparently separating Himself from us, and the result is that we achieve what we really wanted and prayed for: intense love for the Absolute Truth, Kṛṣṇa. Thus Lord Kṛṣṇa’s apparent negligence is actually His thoughtful reciprocation and the fulfillment of our deepest and purest desire. According to the ācāryas, as Lord Kṛṣṇa began to speak this verse the gopīs looked at one another with squinting eyes, trying to hide the smiles breaking out on their faces. Even as Lord Kṛṣṇa was speaking, the gopīs had begun to realize that He was bringing them to the highest perfection of loving service.

Purport (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)

"You are not any of the persons you described in your answers to the first two questions. You are not a selfish materialist, not a merciful devotee, nor a mother or father. Please tell us which of the four types of guru drohi you belong to" "O gopis you are desiring to hear my defeat from my own mouth. O sakhis, smiling and glancing at each other in glee! Please hear me. I ,as a form of Narayana , am both atmarama and purna kama, but as the son of Nanda, I am neither of these. As a small cowherd boy , not having read niti sastra, I am also arktajna , ignorant, but as Narayana I am krta jna, all knowing. Though I am guru drohi for having hurt you by once giving you up after you had been satisfied many times, I am not guru drohi, for I again gave you the satisfaction of seeing me." "Then to which class do you belong?" "To none of these (tu). I do not respond to any living entity who respects or worships me. " "But how is this different from the group (guru drohi) you previously explained?" "For those surrendered souls who worship me through nama kirtana and other means, I do not respond in order to make their worship more perfect. O gopis who cannot understand my words (abala gana)! Not seeing me, those surrendered souls develop humility. "Everything I have done has been useless, because I am an offender, and could not get a drop of mercy. I am most unfortunate." Constantly thinking in this way, bhakti grows prominently, devoid of lust and anger. This is concerning the nature of those who have not attained prema. The nature of those with prema is different. For them, I do not respond in order to increase their attachment to me. I appear and then I disappear, in order to increase their attachment. An example is given for the treatment of those with prema. When a poor man gains wealth and then loses it, he becomes absorbed (nibhrta) in thoughts of that wealth, and cannot think of anything else, such as eating and drinking. Those who have attained prema, and then lose the Lord react similar to this. It is desirable that those worshipping me have this complete attachment to me. To increase that attachment more and more, though it seems I do not respond to them, I respond to them additionally, but in a covered way. Actually I am very merciful, as much as you are, being the ideal example in the answer to your second question. That is, I am the person who worships even if the object of worship does not respond. One should not think that only if I am present that I respond, and if I am not present, I do not respond, for then my promise "I will respond accordingly as they worship me," would be broken."

Purport (Jiva Goswami)

According to the gopīs, because he enjoys various pastimes with them he cannot be an ātmārāma or an ātmakāma. Because he gives pain in separation, he cannot be the type of person mentioned in the previous verse that responds to those who reciprocate or not, nor is he the first type who responds because of motives. Since he showed wisdom in his skilful answers he is not person who can be ignorant of others’ loving actions. Thus he must be in the last category of guru-drohaḥ, with hard-heart for everyone regardless of their love. This is Śrīdhara Svāmī’s explanation. First they had concluded that he was simply ignorant and with that in mind asked their question. Now, however, they became satisfied at finding even greater fault as a result of his answer. Thus they looked at each other with furtive glances and smiled. This is his explanation. Or they asked the question with the intention of concluding that he was hard-hearted. The word tu indicates a different subject. I am not one of those four types starting with the ātmārāma. Though people worship me I do not respond. I have said: nāhaṁ tiṣṭhāmi vaikuṇṭhe yogināṁ hṛdayeṣu vā tatra tiṣṭhāmi nārada yatra gāyanti mad-bhaktāḥ I do not reside in Vaikuṇṭha nor in the hearts of the yogīs. I remain where my devotees engage in glorifying my activities. Though I am situated near them I do not show myself to them. He places the word na (not) first in the verse since he is agitated by the accusation that he caused them pain. O friends! This shows he is not an ātmārāma. I act like this towards all without distinction (jantūn), not just you. You should not worry that I am indifferent to you. “Why do you not respond?” I do this so that they practice constant meditation on me, in order to increase their prema. “But we are always engaged in meditating on you.” That is true, but there is something special. He gives an example. Someone gains a treasure and then loses it tragically (vi—naṣṭe). This indicates great lamentation. Then he becomes completely absorbed (nibhṛtaḥ) in thinking of that treasure. Kṛṣṇa is indifferent, not depending on others’ good acts, because of complete dependence on prema alone and complete satisfaction in himself, since his form and qualities control everyone. Even when he neglects the gopīs’ compassionate parents, he thinks only of others’ benefit--since he ultimately bestows his prema, the crest jewel of all goals, which brings him under control, though he should not give it. By his not responding to their worship, the taste of prema-rasa increases because they tolerate the pain of separation in order to attain him, and because they continually develop increasing greed for him.