Devanagari
श्रियमनुचरतीं तदर्थिनश्च
द्विपदपतीन् विबुधांश्च यत्स्वपूर्ण: ।
न भजति निजभृत्यवर्गतन्त्र:
कथममुमुद्विसृजेत्पुमान् कृतज्ञ: ॥ २२ ॥
Verse text
śriyam anucaratīṁ tad-arthinaś ca
dvipada-patīn vibudhāṁś ca yat sva-pūrṇaḥ
na bhajati nija-bhṛtya-varga-tantraḥ
katham amum udvisṛjet pumān kṛta-jṣaḥ
Synonyms
śriyam
—
the goddess of fortune
;
anucaratīm
—
who follows Him
;
tat
—
of her
;
arthinaḥ
—
those who aspire to get the favor
;
ca
—
and
;
dvipada
—
patīn — rulers of the human beings
;
vibudhān
—
demigods
;
ca
—
also
;
yat
—
because
;
sva
—
pūrṇaḥ — self-sufficient
;
na
—
never
;
bhajati
—
cares for
;
nija
—
own
;
bhṛtya
—
varga — on His devotees
;
tantraḥ
—
dependent
;
katham
—
how
;
amum
—
Him
;
udvisṛjet
—
can give up
;
pumān
—
a person
;
kṛta
—
jṣaḥ — grateful .
Translation
Although the Supreme Personality of Godhead is self-sufficient, He becomes dependent on His devotees. He does not care for the goddess of fortune, nor for the kings and demigods who are after the favors of the goddess of fortune. Where is that person who is actually grateful and will not worship the Personality of Godhead?
Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)
The Lord, being complete in his svarūpa, does not care for the sum total of all wealth, which is worshipped by those desiring all wealth, and does not care for those desiring even a little wealth, or for human kings or devatās. He is dependent on his devotees. How could the devotee reject this Lord even a little?
Just as the devotees have possessiveness of the Lord and no one else, the Lord has possessiveness of the devotees. This dependence on the devotee is described here. The Lord does not care for the personification of all wealth (śriyam) who is followed by persons desiring increase in their wealth (anucaratīm), or for those who want a little wealth, or kings or devatās. This is because, though he is complete in himself (sva-pūrṇaḥ), in his svarūpa, he is dependent on his devotees. This dependence of the Lord on the devotee is actual, not a show. How can one reject this Lord even a little? Just as it has been mentioned that the Lord knows the prema-rasa of the devotee, the devotee also knows the prema-rasa of the Lord. [Note: It seems there is another version with rasaj-jṣaḥ instead of kṛta-jṣāḥ.] These two are knowers of rasa in this world. “It is proper that the Lord should control the devotee. However, when the devotee controls the Lord, such rasa just a show, something artificial?” No, not at all. Rasa is a sthāyi-bhāva, accompanied by elements such as vibhāva. It is called sthāyi or permanent. It is also called prema or rati. With a desire to please the Lord who is the object of intense, natural possessiveness, that prema takes shelter of the devotees. Because that desire to please the Lord is without motive, though the Lord is complete in his happiness, that desire to please the Lord gives great satisfaction to the Lord. The causeless nature of prema is well known in the śrutis and smṛtis. How can rasa be artificial? Thus it should be concluded that the Lord’s nature of being controlled by prema is intrinsic to him. Prema accepts the devotee as its shelter. Thus the Lord is controlled by the devotee.
Purport
Lakṣmī, the goddess of fortune, is worshiped by all materialistic men, including big kings, and demigods in heaven. Lakṣmī, however, is always after the Supreme Personality of Godhead, even though He does not require her service.
Brahma-saṁhitā
says that the Lord is worshiped by hundreds and thousands of goddesses of fortune, but the Supreme Lord does not require service from any of them because if He so desires He can produce millions of goddesses of fortune through His spiritual energy, the pleasure potency. This very Personality of Godhead, out of His causeless mercy, becomes dependent on the devotees. How fortunate, then, is a devotee who is thus favored by the Personality of Godhead. What ungrateful devotee will not worship the Lord and enter into His devotional service? Actually, a devotee cannot forget his obligation to the Supreme Personality of Godhead even for a single moment. Śrīla Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura says that both the Supreme Lord and His devotee are
rasa-jṣa,
full of transcendental humor. The mutual attachment between the Supreme Lord and His devotee is never to be considered material. It always exists as a transcendental fact. There are eight types of transcendental ecstasy (known as
bhāva, anubhāva, sthāyi-bhāva
and so on), and these are discussed in
The Nectar of Devotion.
Those who are unaware of the position of the living entity and the Supreme Person, Kṛṣṇa, think that the mutual attachment between the Lord and His devotees is a creation of the material energy. Factually such attachment is natural both for the Supreme Lord and for the devotee, and it cannot be accepted as material.