SB 11.29.6 · Srimad Bhagavatam

Devanagari

नैवोपयन्त्यपचितिं कवयस्तवेश ब्रह्मायुषापि कृतमृद्धमुद: स्मरन्त: । योऽन्तर्बहिस्तनुभृतामशुभं विधुन्वन्न आचार्यचैत्त्यवपुषा स्वगतिं व्यनक्ति ॥ ६ ॥

Verse text

naivopayanty apacitiṁ kavayas taveśa brahmāyuṣāpi kṛtam ṛddha-mudaḥ smarantaḥ yo ’ntar bahis tanu-bhṛtām aśubhaṁ vidhunvann ācārya-caittya-vapuṣā sva-gatiṁ vyanakti

Synonyms

na eva — not at all ; upayanti — are able to express ; apacitim — their gratitude ; kavayaḥ — learned devotees ; tava — Your ; īśa — O Lord ; brahma — āyuṣā — with a lifetime equal to Lord Brahmā’s ; api — in spite of ; kṛtam — magnanimous work ; ṛddha — increased ; mudaḥ — joy ; smarantaḥ — remembering ; yaḥ — who ; antaḥ — within ; bahiḥ — outside ; tanu — bhṛtām — of those who are embodied ; aśubham — misfortune ; vidhunvan — dissipating ; ācārya — of the spiritual master ; caittya — of the Supersoul ; vapuṣā — by the forms ; sva — own ; gatim — path ; vyanakti — shows .

Translation

O my Lord! Transcendental poets and experts in spiritual science could not fully express their indebtedness to You, even if they were endowed with the prolonged lifetime of Brahmā, for You appear in two features — externally as the ācārya and internally as the Supersoul — to deliver the embodied living being by directing him how to come to You.

Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)

O my Lord! Intelligent persons cannot fully express their indebtedness to you, even if they were endowed with the lifetime of Brahmā, because on remembering what you have done form them, their joy increases even more: appearing externally as guru and internally as Paramātma, you reveal the goal of prema to the devotees. “Because I give all benedictions to only persons who worship me, such bestowals are not unconditional. Rather they are conditional.” This is not so. Whatever worship they perform is actually given by you alone. You are the supreme unconditional giver of benedictions. People can never repay the debt even by serving you for thousands of Brahmā’s lifetimes. Those with discrimination (kavayaḥ) can never become debtless (apacitim) in their worship, even if they worshipped you for a life span of Brahmā, because, on remembering what you have done, their bliss increases. What have you done? You appear externally as the mantra-guru and śikṣā-guru, by whom one receives your mantra and instructions on bhakti and you appear internally as Paramātmā. Dadāmi buddhi-yogaṁ taṁ yena mām upayānti te: I give intelligence by which the devotees come to me. (BG 10.10) Inspiring them with intelligence to attain you, and making them worship you, you reveal to them the goal of becoming an associate with prema.

Purport

According to Śrīla Jīva Gosvāmī, Lord Kṛṣṇa is ten million times more dear to a devotee than life itself. And according to Śrīla Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura, even by rendering devotional service for the total duration of one thousand universal creations, a devotee cannot repay the debt he feels to the Lord for having awarded him loving service to the Lord’s lotus feet. The Lord appears within the heart as the Supersoul and externally both as the spiritual master and as His literary incarnation — the supreme Vedic knowledge of Bhagavad-gītā and Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam.