SB 5.19.21 · Srimad-Bhagavatam

Devanagari

एतदेव हि देवा गायन्ति— अहो अमीषां किमकारि शोभनं प्रसन्न एषां स्विदुत स्वयं हरि: । यैर्जन्म लब्धं नृषु भारताजिरे मुकुन्दसेवौपयिकं स्पृहा हि न: ॥ २१ ॥

Verse text

etad eva hi devā gāyanti — aho amīṣāṁ kim akāri śobhanaṁ prasanna eṣāṁ svid uta svayaṁ hariḥ yair janma labdhaṁ nṛṣu bhāratājire mukunda-sevaupayikaṁ spṛhā hi naḥ

Synonyms

etat — this ; eva — indeed ; hi — certainly ; devāḥ — all the demigods ; gāyanti — chant ; aho — oh ; amīṣām — of these inhabitants of Bhāratavarṣa ; kim — what ; akāri — was done ; śobhanam — pious, beautiful activities ; prasannaḥ — pleased ; eṣām — upon them ; svit — or ; uta — it is said ; svayam — personally ; hariḥ — the Supreme Personality of Godhead ; yaiḥ — by whom ; janma — birth ; labdham — obtained ; nṛṣu — in human society ; bhārata — ajire — in the courtyard of Bhārata-varṣa ; mukunda — the Supreme Personality of Godhead, who can offer liberation ; sevā — aupayikam — which is the means of serving ; spṛhā — desire ; hi — indeed ; naḥ — our .

Translation

Since the human form of life is the sublime position for spiritual realization, all the demigods in heaven speak in this way: How wonderful it is for these human beings to have been born in the land of Bhārata-varṣa. They must have executed pious acts of austerity in the past, or the Supreme Personality of Godhead Himself must have been pleased with them. Otherwise, how could they engage in devotional service in so many ways? We demigods can only aspire to achieve human births in Bhārata-varṣa to execute devotional service, but these human beings are already engaged there.

Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)

The devatās sing: What pious acts did these residents perform, or was the Lord simply pleased with them, by which they attained a birth suitable for service to Mukunda in the area of Bhārata, whereas we can only desire this, but not attain it? What pious acts did these residents perform? Or spontaneously, without their doing anything, the Lord was pleased with them, by which they get birth in the area (ajire) of Bhārata? It is not possible that they get such fortune just by pious acts. “But we see sinful people taking birth there also.” That birth is suitable for service to Mukunda. It is good fortune because (hi) we desire it and cannot attain that birth.

Purport

These facts are further explained in Caitanya-caritāmṛta ( Ādi 9.41) : bhārata-bhūmite haila manuṣya-janma yāra janma sārthaka kari’ kara para-upakāra “One who has taken his birth as a human being in the land of India [Bhārata-varṣa] should make his life successful and work for the benefit of all other people.” There are many facilities in India, Bhārata-varṣa, for executing devotional service. In Bhārata-varṣa, all the ācāryas contributed their experience, and Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu personally appeared to teach the people of Bhārata-varṣa how to progress in spiritual life and be fixed in devotional service to the Lord. From all points of view, Bhārata-varṣa is the special land where one can very easily understand the process of devotional service and adopt it to make his life successful. If one makes his life successful in devotional service and then preaches devotional service in other parts of the world, people throughout the world will actually benefit.