Devanagari
अधनोऽयं धनं प्राप्य माद्यन्नुच्चैर्न मां स्मरेत् ।
इति कारुणिको नूनं धनं मेऽभूरि नाददात् ॥ २० ॥
Verse text
adhano ’yaṁ dhanaṁ prāpya
mādyann uccair na māṁ smaret
iti kāruṇiko nūnaṁ
dhanaṁ me ’bhūri nādadāt
Synonyms
adhanaḥ
—
poor person
;
ayam
—
this
;
dhanam
—
riches
;
prāpya
—
obtaining
;
mādyan
—
delighting
;
uccaiḥ
—
excessively
;
na
—
not
;
mām
—
Me
;
smaret
—
will remember
;
iti
—
thus thinking
;
kāruṇikaḥ
—
compassionate
;
nūnam
—
indeed
;
dhanam
—
wealth
;
me
—
to me
;
abhūri
—
slight
;
na ādadāt
—
He did not give .
Translation
Thinking “If this poor wretch suddenly becomes rich, he will forget Me in his intoxicating happiness,” the compassionate Lord did not grant me even a little wealth.
Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)
Thinking "If this poor wretch suddenly becomes rich, he will forget Me in his intoxicating happiness," the compassionate Lord did not grant me even a little wealth.
KB 10.81.20
“Yet the Lord was so kind to me that He did not give me even a farthing, knowing very well that I am a poverty-stricken man who, if I got some money, might become puffed up and mad after material opulence and so forget Him.”
The statement of the brāhmaṇa Sudāmā is correct. An ordinary man who is very poor and prays to the Lord for benediction in material opulence, and who somehow or other becomes richer in material opulence, immediately forgets his obligation to the Lord. Therefore, the Lord does not offer opulences to His devotee unless the devotee is thoroughly tested. Rather, if a neophyte devotee serves the Lord very sincerely and at the same time wants material opulence, the Lord keeps him from obtaining it.
Purport
Sudāmā’s statement that Lord Kṛṣṇa bestowed on him “not even a little wealth” may also be taken to mean that instead of giving him wealth that was
abhuri,
“slight,” the Lord in fact gave him the immense treasure of His association. This alternate meaning has been suggested by Śrīla Viśvanātha Cakravartī.
Purport (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)
He did not give me even a little wealth (abhuri api na adadat).
Another meaning is; He did not give me anything is my great wealth (adadhat bhuri me dhanam).
Another meaning is: Certainly he did not give me a little wealth but gave me great wealth ( nu unam dhanam na adadat, bhuri dhanam me adadat).
Purport (Sanatana Goswami)
I will become intoxicated with wealth. Nūnam indicates conjecture. He does not give wealth because that is beneficial for me. This is his natural compassion.