Devanagari
साधवो हृदयं मह्यं साधूनां हृदयं त्वहम् ।
मदन्यत् ते न जानन्ति नाहं तेभ्यो मनागपि ॥ ६८ ॥
Verse text
sādhavo hṛdayaṁ mahyaṁ
sādhūnāṁ hṛdayaṁ tv aham
mad-anyat te na jānanti
nāhaṁ tebhyo manāg api
Synonyms
sādhavaḥ
—
the pure devotees
;
hṛdayam
—
in the core of the heart
;
mahyam
—
of Me
;
sādhūnām
—
of the pure devotees also
;
hṛdayam
—
in the core of the heart
;
tu
—
indeed
;
aham
—
I am
;
mat
—
anyat — anything else but me
;
te
—
they
;
na
—
not
;
jānanti
—
know
;
na
—
not
;
aham
—
I
;
tebhyaḥ
—
than them
;
manāk api
—
even by a little fraction .
Translation
The pure devotee is always within the core of My heart, and I am always in the heart of the pure devotee. My devotees do not know anything else but Me, and I do not know anyone else but them.
Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)
The pure devotee is my very heart: what pains him pains me. I am the heart of the pure devotee: what pleases him pleases me. My devotees do not know anything else but me, and I do not know more than they do.
Though I want to give you the suitable result for causing pain to my devotee, I do not do so. Understand that this is because I am affectionate to brāhmaṇas. That is expressed in this verse. The devotees are my heart: you, who wanted to afflict my Ambarīṣa, have afflicted my heart. “If I have offended you then I fall at your feet for forgiveness.” I am the devotees’ heart: when the devotee’s heart is pleased, I am pleased. Go to Ambarīṣa and please him. “But he invited me and then did not feed me, and instead he ate. Do you not see his fault?” They do not know anything except me. Ambarīṣa does what I desire him to do. “Therefore I ask you. Please reply. Between a brāhmaṇa and a Dvādaśī, which is more respectable as dharma?” Please go. Ask Ambarīṣa. He will teach you, since you are so ignorant of the conclusions of the scriptures on dharma. Do not have any shame about this. I also have no knowledge. I do not know anything more than they do. Since the śruti says that drinking water is both eating and not eating, Ambarīṣa has equally respected the brāhmaṇa and the Dvādaśī. But you are ignorant. You do not know that. This is hinted. And Durvāsā had not asked Ambarīṣa about this, since he should be made to understand the superiority of the Dvādaśī over all dharma because of its bhakti by seeing result of his actions.
Purport
Since Durvāsā Muni wanted to chastise Mahārāja Ambarīṣa, it is to be understood that he wanted to give pain to the heart of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, for the Lord says,
sādhavo hṛdayaṁ mahyam:
“The pure devotee is always within the core of My heart.” The Lord’s feelings are like those of a father, who feels pain when his child is in pain. Therefore, offenses at the lotus feet of a devotee are serious. Caitanya Mahāprabhu has very strongly recommended that one not commit any offense at the lotus feet of a devotee. Such offenses are compared to a mad elephant because when a mad elephant enters a garden it causes devastation. Therefore one should be extremely careful not to commit offenses at the lotus feet of a pure devotee. Actually Mahārāja Ambarīṣa was not at all at fault; Durvāsā Muni unnecessarily wanted to chastise him on flimsy grounds. Mahārāja Ambarīṣa wanted to complete the Ekādaśī-pāraṇa as part of devotional service to please the Supreme Personality of Godhead, and therefore he drank a little water. But although Durvāsā Muni was a great mystic
brāhmaṇa,
he did not know what is what. That is the difference between a pure devotee and a so-called learned scholar of Vedic knowledge. The devotees, being always situated in the core of the Lord’s heart, surely get all instructions directly from the Lord, as confirmed by the Lord Himself in
Bhagavad-gītā
(10.11)
:
teṣām evānukampārtham
aham ajṣānajaṁ tamaḥ
nāśayāmy ātma-bhāvastho
jṣāna-dīpena bhāsvatā
“Out of compassion for them, I, dwelling in their hearts, destroy with the shining lamp of knowledge the darkness born of ignorance.” The devotee does not do anything not sanctioned by the Supreme Personality of Godhead. As it is said,
vaiṣṇavera kriyā mudrā vijṣeha nā bujhaya.
Even the most learned or experienced person cannot understand the movements of a Vaiṣṇava, a pure devotee. No one, therefore, should criticize a pure Vaiṣṇava. A Vaiṣṇava knows his own business; whatever he does is precisely right because he is always guided by the Supreme Personality of Godhead.