Devanagari
सन्तं समीपे रमणं रतिप्रदं
वित्तप्रदं नित्यमिमं विहाय ।
अकामदं दु:खभयाधिशोक-
मोहप्रदं तुच्छमहं भजेऽज्ञा ॥ ३१ ॥
Verse text
santaṁ samīpe ramaṇaṁ rati-pradaṁ
vitta-pradaṁ nityam imaṁ vihāya
akāma-daṁ duḥkha-bhayādhi-śoka-
moha-pradaṁ tuccham ahaṁ bhaje ’jṣā
Synonyms
santam
—
being
;
samīpe
—
most near (in my heart)
;
ramaṇam
—
the most dear
;
rati
—
actual love or pleasure
;
pradam
—
giving
;
vitta
—
prosperity
;
pradam
—
giving
;
nityam
—
eternal
;
imam
—
Him
;
vihāya
—
giving up
;
akāma
—
dam — who can never satisfy one’s desires
;
duḥkha
—
misery
;
bhaya
—
fear
;
ādhi
—
mental distress
;
śoka
—
lamentation
;
moha
—
illusion
;
pradam
—
giving
;
tuccham
—
most insignificant
;
aham
—
I
;
bhaje
—
serve
;
ajṣā
—
an ignorant fool .
Translation
I am such a fool that I have given up the service of that person who, being eternally situated within my heart, is actually most dear to me. That most dear one is the Lord of the universe, who is the bestower of real love and happiness and the source of all prosperity. Although He is in my own heart, I have completely neglected Him. Instead I have ignorantly served insignificant men who can never satisfy my real desires and who have simply brought me unhappiness, fear, anxiety, lamentation and illusion.
Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)
Giving up the eternal Lord situated within me, the Lord who accepts love and gives love and wealth, foolishly I serve insignificant men who give dissatisfaction, sorrow, fear, worry, lamentation and illusion.
The Lord is in my heart, the enjoyer (ramaṇam). Why do I not give love to him? He gives love. Why would he not give love to me? What is the use of other men, who are full of sin? He gives wealth. Being pleased with my love, he will give the greatest wealth. Others are not capable of giving full satisfaction (akāmadam). In this way she thought of the Lord. Some authorities say that she thought in this way by the great mercy of Dattātreya who happened to rest in her yard that night. [Note: In SB 11.9.32 commentary it is explained that the avadhūta was Dattatreya, who gave instruction to King Yadu.]
Purport
Piṅgalā laments that she chose to serve most sinful, useless men. She falsely thought they would bring her happiness and neglected to serve the actual Lord of the heart, Kṛṣṇa. She could understand how foolishly she had struggled for money, not knowing that the Supreme Lord is always inclined to award prosperity to His sincere devotee. The prostitute was proud of her ability to please men, but she now laments that she did not try to please the Supreme Lord by loving service. The Supreme Lord is completely aloof from the transactions of the material world. Lord Kṛṣṇa is the actual enjoyer of everyone and everything, but one must learn how to please the Lord by pure spiritual service.