Devanagari
एवं कृष्णात्मनाथेषु मनुष्येषु च सौहृदम् ।
परिचर्यां चोभयत्र महत्सु नृषु साधुषु ॥ २९ ॥
Verse text
evaṁ kṛṣṇātma-nātheṣu
manuṣyeṣu ca sauhṛdam
paricaryāṁ cobhayatra
mahatsu nṛṣu sādhuṣu
Synonyms
evam
—
thus
;
kṛṣṇa
—
ātma — nātheṣu — for those who take Lord Kṛṣṇa as the Lord of their soul
;
manuṣyeṣu
—
humans
;
ca
—
and
;
sauhṛdam
—
friendship
;
paricaryām
—
service
;
ca
—
and
;
ubhayatra
—
rendered to both (moving and nonmoving creatures, or the Lord and His devotees)
;
mahatsu
—
(especially) to the pure devotees of the Lord
;
nṛṣu
—
to human beings
;
sādhuṣu
—
those who are fixed in saintly behavior .
Translation
One who desires his ultimate self-interest should cultivate friendship with those persons who have accepted Kṛṣṇa as the Lord of their life. One should further develop an attitude of service toward all living beings. One should especially try to help those in the human form of life and, among them, especially those who accept the principles of religious behavior. Among religious persons, one should especially render service to the pure devotees of the Supreme Personality of Godhead.
Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)
One should learn to have friendship with people who have devoted their lives to Kṛṣṇa and to serve Kṛṣṇa, the devotees, those of higher status and those of equal status in the proper manner.
One should learn to have affection for humans whose very life is Kṛṣṇa. One should learn to serve Kṛṣṇa and his devotees. One should learn to serve persons worthy of respect and persons who are equal according to their status.
Purport
According to Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura, the highest duty for devotees of the Supreme Lord is to establish friendship with those who have completely surrendered to Kṛṣṇa and who have thus achieved
śaraṇāgati,
shelter at the Lord’s lotus feet. One should render service to both the Lord and His devotees, since the Lord is more pleased by sincere service rendered to His pure devotees. One should not only officially offer respect to the Supreme Personality of Godhead, His devotees and His worshipful paraphernalia, but should actually render service to the representatives of the Lord, who are known as
mahā-bhāgavatas.