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Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam
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<< VERSE 6 >>
तावद्भयं द्रविणदेहसुहृन्निमित्तं शोकः स्पृहा परिभवो विपुलश्च लोभः तावन्ममेत्यसदवग्रह आर्तिमूलं यावन्न तेऽङ्घ्रिमभयं प्रवृणीत लोकः
tāvad bhayaṁ draviṇa-deha-suhṛn-nimittaṁ śokaḥ spṛhā paribhavo vipulaś ca lobhaḥ tāvan mamety asad-avagraha ārti-mūlaṁ yāvan na te ’ṅghrim abhayaṁ pravṛṇīta lokaḥ
WORD BY WORD
tāvat until then; bhayam fear; draviṇa wealth; deha body; suhṛt relatives; nimittam for the matter of; śokaḥ lamentation; spṛhā desire; paribhavaḥ paraphernalia; vipulaḥ very great; ca also; lobhaḥ avarice; tāvat up to that time; mama mine; iti thus; asat perishable; avagrahaḥ undertaking; ārti-mūlam full of anxieties; yāvat as long as; na do not; te Your; aṅghrim abhayam safe lotus feet; pravṛṇīta take shelter; lokaḥ the people of the world.;
TRANSLATION
| O my Lord, the people of the world are embarrassed by all material anxieties — they are always afraid. They always try to protect wealth, body and friends, they are filled with lamentation and unlawful desires and paraphernalia, and they avariciously base their undertakings on the perishable conceptions of “my” and “mine.” As long as they do not take shelter of Your safe lotus feet, they are full of such anxieties.
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PURPORT
| One may question how one can always think of the Lord in regard to His name, fame, quality, etc., if one is embarrassed by thoughts of family affairs. Everyone in the material world is full of thoughts about how to maintain his family, how to protect his wealth, how to keep pace with friends and relatives, etc. Thus he is always in fear and lamentation, trying to keep up with the status quo. In answer to this question, this verse spoken by Brahmā is very appropriate.
| | A pure devotee of the Lord never thinks of himself as the proprietor of his home. He surrenders everything unto the supreme control of the Lord, and thus he has no fear for maintaining his family or protecting the interests of his family. Because of this surrender, he no longer has any attraction for wealth. Even if there is attraction for wealth, it is not for sense enjoyment, but for the service of the Lord. A pure devotee may be attracted to accumulating wealth just like an ordinary man, but the difference is that a devotee acquires money for the service of the Lord, whereas the ordinary man acquires money for his sense enjoyment. Thus the acquisition of wealth by a devotee is not a source of anxieties, as is the case for a worldly man. And because a pure devotee accepts everything in the sense of serving the Lord, the poisonous teeth of accumulation of wealth are extracted. If a snake has its poison removed and bites a man, there is no fatal effect. Similarly, wealth accumulated in the cause of the Lord has no poisonous teeth, and the effect is not fatal. A pure devotee is never entangled in material worldly affairs even though he may remain in the world like an ordinary man.
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