Verse 2.10.23-024

Bengali text, Devanagari and Unicode transliteration of verse 2.10.23-024:

তুমি প্রভু, মুঞি দাস—ইহা নাহি যথাহেন সত্য কর প্রভু, না ফেলিহ তথা সপার্ষদে তুমি যথা কর অবতার তথাই তথাই দাস হৈব তোমার” ॥ ২৩-০২৪ ॥

तुमि प्रभु, मुञि दास—इहा नाहि यथाहेन सत्य कर प्रभु, ना फेलिह तथा सपार्षदे तुमि यथा कर अवतार तथाइ तथाइ दास हैब तोमार” ॥ २३-०२४ ॥

tumi prabhu, muñi dāsa—ihā nāhi yathāhena satya kara prabhu, nā pheliha tathā sapārṣade tumi yathā kara avatāra tathāi tathāi dāsa haiba tomāra” || 23-024 ||

tumi prabhu, muni dasa—iha nahi yathahena satya kara prabhu, na pheliha tatha saparsade tumi yatha kara avatara tathai tathai dasa haiba tomara” (23-024)

English translation:

(23-024) “O Lord, do not put me in a condition in which You are not my master and I am not Your servant. May I remain Your servant wherever You and Your associates incarnate.”

Commentary: Gauḍīya-bhāṣya by Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura:

As Mahāprabhu was about to award Murāri a benediction, Murāri said, “I have no desire other than Your service, birth after birth. May I not forget You and fall into some other state in any lifetime. May I be able to serve You in every lifetime. May my intelligence not be diverted from Your service.” In the Mukunda-mālā stotra (3, 5-6, 24-25) it is stated: “O Lord Mukunda! I bow down my head to Your Lordship and respectfully ask You to fulfill this one desire of mine: that in each of my future births I will, by Your Lordship’s mercy, always remember and never forget Your lotus feet. O my Lord! I have no attachment for religiosity, or for accumulating wealth, or for enjoying sense gratification. Let these come as they inevitably must, in accordance with my past deeds. But I do pray for this most cherished boon: birth after birth, let me render unflinching devotional service unto Your two lotus feet. O Lord, killer of the demon Naraka! Let me reside either in the realm of the demigods, in the world of human beings, or in hell, as You please. I pray only that at the point of death I may remember Your two lotus feet, whose beauty defies that of the lotus growing in the Śarat season. O Mādhava, please do not let me even glance at those whose pious credits are so depleted that they have no devotion for Your lotus feet. Please do not let me be distracted from listening to the worthy narrations of Your pastimes and become interested in other topics. Please, O Lord of the universe, let me pay no attention to those who avoid thinking of You. And let me never be unable to serve You in some menial way, birth after birth. O enemy of Madhu and Kaiṭabha, O Lord of the universe, the perfection of my life and the

most cherished mercy You could show me would be for You to consider me the servant of the servant of the servant of the servant of the servant of the servant of Your servant.” In the Śrīmad Bhāgavatam (7.10.6) it is stated:

ahaṃ tv akāmas tvad-bhaktas tvaṃ ca svāmy anapāśrayaḥ nānyathehāvayor artho

rāja-sevakayor iva

“O my Lord, I am Your unmotivated servant, and You are my eternal master. There is no need of our being anything other than master and servant. You are naturally my master, and I am naturally Your servant. We have no other relationship.” The great devotee Hanumān prayed:

bhava-bandha-cchide tasyai spṛhayāmi na muktaye bhavān prabhur ahaṃ dāsa iti yatra vilupyate

“I do not wish to take liberation or to merge in the Brahman effulgence, where the conception of being a servant of the Lord is completely lost.” Similarly, in the Nārada-pañcarātra it is stated:

dharmārtha-kāma-mokṣeṣu necchā mama kadācana tvat-pāda-paṅkajasyādho jīvitaṃ dīyatāṃ mama

“I do not want any one of the four desirable stations—religiosity, economic development, sense gratification and liberation. I simply want to engage as a servant of the lotus feet of the Lord.” In the Śikṣāṣṭaka it is stated:

na dhanaṃ na janaṃ na sundarīṃ kavitāṃ vā jagad-īśa kāmaye mama janmani janmanīśvare bhavatād bhaktir ahaitukī tvayi

“O Almighty Lord, I have no desire to accumulate wealth, nor to enjoy beautiful women. Nor do I want any number of followers. What I want only is the causeless mercy of Your devotional service in my life, birth after birth.” In the Viṣṇu Purāṇa it is said:

nātha yoni-sahasreṣu yeṣu yeṣu vrajāmy aham teṣu teṣv acyutā bhaktir acyutāstu sadā tvayi

“O my Lord, even if I wander throughout the universe in thousands of different species of life, may I always have unflinching devotion to You.”