SB 9.4.20 · Srimad Bhagavatam

Devanagari

स वै मन: कृष्णपदारविन्दयो- र्वचांसि वैकुण्ठगुणानुवर्णने । करौ हरेर्मन्दिरमार्जनादिषु श्रुतिं चकाराच्युतसत्कथोदये ॥ १८ ॥ मुकुन्दलिङ्गालयदर्शने द‍ृशौ तद्भृत्यगात्रस्पर्शेऽङ्गसङ्गमम् । घ्राणं च तत्पादसरोजसौरभे श्रीमत्तुलस्या रसनां तदर्पिते ॥ १९ ॥ पादौ हरे: क्षेत्रपदानुसर्पणे शिरो हृषीकेशपदाभिवन्दने । कामं च दास्ये न तु कामकाम्यया यथोत्तमश्लोकजनाश्रया रति: ॥ २० ॥

Verse text

sa vai manaḥ kṛṣṇa-padāravindayor vacāṁsi vaikuṇṭha-guṇānuvarṇane karau harer mandira-mārjanādiṣu śrutiṁ cakārācyuta-sat-kathodaye mukunda-liṅgālaya-darśane dṛśau tad-bhṛtya-gātra-sparśe ’ṅga-saṅgamam ghrāṇaṁ ca tat-pāda-saroja-saurabhe śrīmat-tulasyā rasanāṁ tad-arpite pādau hareḥ kṣetra-padānusarpaṇe śiro hṛṣīkeśa-padābhivandane kāmaṁ ca dāsye na tu kāma-kāmyayā yathottamaśloka-janāśrayā ratiḥ

Synonyms

saḥ — he (Mahārāja Ambarīṣa) ; vai — indeed ; manaḥ — his mind ; kṛṣṇa — pada — aravindayoḥ — (fixed) upon the two lotus feet of Lord Kṛṣṇa ; vacāṁsi — his words ; vaikuṇṭha — guṇa — anuvarṇane — describing the glories of Kṛṣṇa ; karau — his two hands ; hareḥ mandira — mārjana — ādiṣu — in activities like cleansing the temple of Hari, the Supreme Personality of Godhead ; śrutim — his ear ; cakāra — engaged ; acyuta — of or about Kṛṣṇa, who never falls down ; sat — kathā — udaye — in hearing the transcendental narrations ; mukunda — liṅga — ālaya — darśane — in seeing the Deity and temples and holy dhāmas of Mukunda ; dṛśau — his two eyes ; tat — bhṛtya — of the servants of Kṛṣṇa ; gātra — sparśe — in touching the bodies ; aṅga — saṅgamam — contact of his body ; ghrāṇam ca — and his sense of smell ; tat — pāda — of His lotus feet ; saroja — of the lotus flower ; saurabhe — in (smelling) the fragrance ; śrīmat — tulasyāḥ — of the tulasī leaves ; rasanām — his tongue ; tat — arpite — in the prasāda offered to the Lord ; pādau — his two legs ; hareḥ — of the Personality of Godhead ; kṣetra — holy places like the temple or Vṛndāvana and Dvārakā ; pada — anusarpaṇe — walking to those places ; śiraḥ — the head ; hṛṣīkeśa — of Kṛṣṇa, the master of the senses ; pada — abhivandane — in offering obeisances to the lotus feet ; kāmam ca — and his desires ; dāsye — in being engaged as a servant ; na — not ; tu — indeed ; kāma — kāmyayā — with a desire for sense gratification ; yathā — as ; uttamaśloka — jana — āśrayā — if one takes shelter of a devotee such as Prahlāda ; ratiḥ — attachment .

Translation

Mahārāja Ambarīṣa always engaged his mind in meditating upon the lotus feet of Kṛṣṇa, his words in describing the glories of the Lord, his hands in cleansing the Lord’s temple, and his ears in hearing the words spoken by Kṛṣṇa or about Kṛṣṇa. He engaged his eyes in seeing the Deity of Kṛṣṇa, Kṛṣṇa’s temples and Kṛṣṇa’s places like Mathurā and Vṛndāvana, he engaged his sense of touch in touching the bodies of the Lord’s devotees, he engaged his sense of smell in smelling the fragrance of tulasī offered to the Lord, and he engaged his tongue in tasting the Lord’s prasāda. He engaged his legs in walking to the holy places and temples of the Lord, his head in bowing down before the Lord, and all his desires in serving the Lord, twenty-four hours a day. Indeed, Mahārāja Ambarīṣa never desired anything for his own sense gratification. He engaged all his senses in devotional service, in various engagements related to the Lord. This is the way to increase attachment for the Lord and be completely free from all material desires.

Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)

Mahārāja Ambarīṣa always engaged his mind in meditating upon the lotus feet of Kṛṣṇa, his words in describing the glories of the Lord, his hands in cleansing the Lord's temple, and his ears in hearing the words spoken by Kṛṣṇa or about Kṛṣṇa. He engaged his eyes in seeing the deity of Kṛṣṇa, Kṛṣṇa's temples and Kṛṣṇa's places like Mathurā and Vṛndāvana, he engaged his sense of touch in touching the bodies of the Lord's devotees, he engaged his sense of smell in smelling the fragrance of tulasī offered to the Lord, and he engaged his tongue in tasting the Lord's prasāda. He engaged his legs in walking to the holy places and temples of the Lord, his head in bowing down before the Lord, and all his desires in serving the Lord, without desiring material enjoyment, in order to develop rati as possessed by great devotees. Three verses describe his sādhana for producing prema. The verb is cakāra. Just as a king engages his servants in his kingdom, wherever Ambarīṣa engaged his mind and senses, there the mind and senses would go, taking the order on their heads. The sovereignty of the king was extraordinary. He engaged his ears in the excellent topics of the Lord and his devotees (sat), not in jṣāna or karma. He engaged his eyes in seeing the forms of the Lord as well as the temples, the abodes such as Mathurā, and the devotees (ālaya). He engaged his nose in the fragrance of the tulasī which was offered to the lotus feet of the Lord. He engaged his tongue in the food offered to the Lord. He engaged his feet in repeatedly going to the places such as Mathurā and the temples of the Lord. He engaged his head in bowing down to the Lord and the devotees. He engaged his desire in being the servant of the Lord, not with a desire for material enjoyment. The instrumental case of kāma-kāmyayā means the locative case. Why did he do this? He did it so that he could somehow develop rati without material desire, such as possessed by Prahlāda and others.

Purport

In Bhagavad-gītā (7.1) the Lord recommends, mayy āsakta-manāḥ pārtha yogaṁ yuṣjan mad-āśrayaḥ. This indicates that one must execute devotional service under the guidance of a devotee or directly under the guidance of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. It is not possible, however, to train oneself without guidance from the spiritual master. Therefore, according to the instructions of Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī, the first business of a devotee is to accept a bona fide spiritual master who can train him to engage his various senses in rendering transcendental service to the Lord. The Lord also says in Bhagavad-gītā (7.1) , asaṁśayaṁ samagraṁ māṁ yathā jṣāsyasi tac chṛṇu. In other words, if one wants to understand the Supreme Personality of Godhead in completeness, one must follow the prescriptions given by Kṛṣṇa by following in the footsteps of Mahārāja Ambarīṣa. It is said, hṛṣīkeṇa hṛṣīkeśa-sevanaṁ bhaktir ucyate: bhakti means to engage the senses in the service of the master of the senses, Kṛṣṇa, who is called Hṛṣīkeśa or Acyuta. These words are used in these verses. Acyuta-sat-kathodaye, hṛṣīkeśa-padābhivandane. The words Acyuta and Hṛṣīkeśa are also used in Bhagavad-gītā. Bhagavad-gītā is kṛṣṇa-kathā spoken directly by Kṛṣṇa, and Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam is also kṛṣṇa-kathā because everything described in the Bhāgavatam is in relationship with Kṛṣṇa.