SB 11.8.6 · Srimad-Bhagavatam

Devanagari

समृद्धकामोहीनो वा नारायणपरो मुनि: । नोत्सर्पेत न शुष्येत सरिद्भ‍िरिव सागर: ॥ ६ ॥

Verse text

samṛddha-kāmo hīno vā nārāyaṇa-paro muniḥ notsarpeta na śuṣyeta saridbhir iva sāgaraḥ

Synonyms

samṛddha — flourishing ; kāmaḥ — material opulence ; hīnaḥ — destitute ; vā — or ; nārāyaṇa — the Supreme Personality of Godhead ; paraḥ — accepting as supreme ; muniḥ — a saintly devotee ; na — does not ; utsarpeta — swell up ; na — does not ; śuṣyeta — dry up ; saridbhiḥ — by the rivers ; iva — like ; sāgaraḥ — the ocean .

Translation

During the rainy season the swollen rivers rush into the ocean, and during the dry summer the rivers, now shallow, severely reduce their supply of water; yet the ocean does not swell up during the rainy season, nor does it dry up in the hot summer. In the same way, a saintly devotee who has accepted the Supreme Personality of Godhead as the goal of his life sometimes will receive by providence great material opulence, and sometimes he will find himself materially destitute. However, such a devotee of the Lord does not rejoice in a flourishing condition, nor is he morose when poverty-stricken.

Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)

The sage dedicated to Nārāyaṇa does not exalt when flourishing or dwindle when destitute, just as the ocean does not increase by rivers or dry up without them. Just as the ocean does not rise up because of monsoon Rivers, nor does it dry up in the summer without rivers, the sage, though attaining many objects, does not rejoice because of attaining his desire, and when without anything he does not lament because of poverty. The devotees of Nārāyaṇa will have joy and sorrow by attaining or not attaining the sweetness of realization of the Lord.

Purport

A sincere devotee of the Lord is always eager to meet the Lord and render Him transcendental service. He wants to remain fixed as an atom at the lotus feet of the Lord because Lord Kṛṣṇa, or Nārāyaṇa, is the reservoir of all pleasure. He rejoices when experiencing pure Kṛṣṇa consciousness and is morose when Kṛṣṇa is not present in his mind. In his dealings with the material world, a devotee cannot be disturbed by ordinary, materialistic people who sometimes insult him and accuse him of neglecting material sense gratification, just as the ocean cannot be disturbed by the innumerable rivers that enter into it. Sometimes lusty women approach a pure devotee, and sometimes speculative philosophers try to argue against the Personality of Godhead, but with all such ordinary people, a pure devotee is detached and undisturbed in his blissful Kṛṣṇa consciousness.