Devanagari
यत्सेवया भगवत: कूटस्थस्य मधुद्विष: ।
रतिरासो भवेत्तीव्र: पादयोर्व्यसनार्दन: ॥ १९ ॥
Verse text
yat-sevayā bhagavataḥ
kūṭa-sthasya madhu-dviṣaḥ
rati-rāso bhavet tīvraḥ
pādayor vyasanārdanaḥ
Synonyms
yat
—
to whom
;
sevayā
—
by service
;
bhagavataḥ
—
of the Personality of Godhead
;
kūṭa
—
sthasya — of the unchangeable
;
madhu
—
dviṣaḥ — the enemy of the Madhu asura
;
rati
—
rāsaḥ — attachment in different relationships
;
bhavet
—
develops
;
tīvraḥ
—
highly ecstatic
;
pādayoḥ
—
of the feet
;
vyasana
—
distresses
;
ardanaḥ
—
vanquishing .
Translation
By serving the feet of the spiritual master, one is enabled to develop transcendental ecstasy in the service of the Personality of Godhead, who is the unchangeable enemy of the Madhu demon and whose service vanquishes one’s material distresses.
Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)
By service to the devotees, intense rasa of bhāva-bhakti to the Lord who is fixed in one form and destroys obstacles for the devotee appears, and destruction of material suffering then takes place.
What is impossible by serving the devotee? Kutāstha means “fixed in one form over all time” according to the Amara-koṣa. By service to devotees ), the rāsa of rati or bhāva-bhakti (composed of vibhāva, anubhāva, sthāyi-bhava, sāttvika-bhāva and vyabhicāri-bhāvas) with varieties such as śānta and dāsya arises for Bhagavān, who is fixed as Bhagavān over all time (kūṭa-sthasya), who destroys material life of the devotee just as he destroyed the Madhu demon (madhu-dviṣaḥ). Bhāva-bhakti is called tivraḥ or sharp because by its sweetness it suppresses all other material or spiritual sweetness. It impels one to become unaware of all else.
Purport
The association of a bona fide spiritual master like the sage Maitreya can be of absolute help in achieving transcendental attachment for the direct service of the Lord. The Lord is the enemy of the Madhu demon, or in other words He is the enemy of the suffering of His pure devotee. The word
rati-rāsaḥ
is significant in this verse. Service to the Lord is rendered in different transcendental mellows (relationships): neutral, active, friendly, parental and conjugal. A living entity in the liberated position of transcendental service to the Lord becomes attracted to one of the above-mentioned mellows, and when one is engaged in transcendental loving service to the Lord, one’s service attachment in the material world is automatically vanquished. As stated in
Bhagavad-gītā
(2.59)
,
rasa-varjaṁ raso ’py asya paraṁ dṛṣṭvā nivartate.