Verse 1.4.9

Sanskrit text, Unicode transliteration, Word-for-word and English translation of verse 1.4.9:

यश् चित्र-चित्राग्रह-चातुरी-चयैर् उत्सृज्यमानं हरिणा परं पदम् ।
ब्रह्मादि-संप्रार्थ्यम् उपेक्ष्य केवलं वव्रेऽस्य भक्तिं निज-जन्म-जन्मसु ॥ ९ ॥

yaś citra-citrāgraha-cāturī-cayair utsṛjyamānaṃ hariṇā paraṃ padam |
brahmādi-saṃprārthyam upekṣya kevalaṃ vavre'sya bhaktiṃ nija-janma-janmasu || 9 ||

Although by various clever means Bhagavān Śrī Nṛsiṃhadeva indicated the offering of the topmost post that is prayed for by demigods such as Brahmā, you did not accept it. You prayed only for the boon of causeless devotion to Śrī Hari’s lotus feet lifetime after lifetime.

Commentary: Dig-darśinī-ṭīkā with Bhāvānuvāda

(By Śrīla Sanātana Gosvāmī himself including a deep purport of that commentary)

Again, by Śrī Hari’s shrewd ingenuity, He insisted that you accept many benedictions. Among them, He wanted to offer you liberation or the topmost position on the planet of Vaikuṇṭha, but you did not accept them.

Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam (7.9.52) says:

प्रह्राद भद्र भद्रं ते प्रीतो’हं ते’सुरोत्तम
वरं वृणीष्वाभिमतं काम-पूरो’स्म्य् अहं नृणाम्

prahrāda bhadra bhadraṃ te prīto’haṃ te’surottama
varaṃ vṛṇīṣvābhimataṃ kāma-pūro’smy ahaṃ nṛṇām

O gentle Prahlāda, O best of the demoniac families, all fortune unto you! I am extremely satisfied with you. I alone fulfill the desires of all living entities. Therefore you may ask any boon that you desire.

In the Viṣṇu Purāṇa (1.20.17) this has been similarly stated:

कुर्वतस् ते प्रसन्नो’ हं भक्तिम् अव्यभिचारिणीम्
यथाभिलषितो मत्तः प्रह्लाद व्रियतां वरः

kurvatas te prasanno’ haṃ bhaktim avyabhicāriṇīm
yathābhilaṣito mattaḥ prahlāda vriyatāṃ varaḥ

O Prahlāda, You have excecuted everything with one-pointed devotion, therefore I am extremely pleased with you. And you may thus ask for any desired boon that you would like.

In this way Bhagavān, after granting the boon of prema-bhakti, continued:

मयि भक्तिस् तवास्तय् एव भुयो’प्य् एवं भविष्यति
वरस् च मत्तः प्रह्लाद! क्रियतां यस्तविषतः

mayi bhaktis tavāstay eva bhuyo’py evaṃ bhaviṣyati
varas ca mattaḥ prahlāda! kriyatāṃ yastaviṣataḥ

You will indeed have pure devotion unto Me, and in the future also you will have viśuddha bhakti. Now, accept from Me your desired boon, Prahlāda!

Furthermore, it has been said in Śrī Hari-bhakti-sudhodaya (14.28, 29, 30):

स-भयं सम्भ्रमं वैस मद्-गौरव-कृतं त्यज
नैष प्रियो मे भक्तेषु स्वाधीन-प्रणयी भव
अपि मे पूर्ण-कामस्य नवं नवम् इदं प्रियं
निःशङ्कः प्रणयाद् भक्तो यन् मां पश्यति भासते
सदा मुक्तो’पि बद्धो’स्मि भक्तेन स्नेह-रज्जुभिः
अजितो’पि जितो’हं तैर् अवश्यो’पि वशी-कृतः

sa-bhayaṃ sambhramaṃ vaisa mad-gaurava-kṛtaṃ tyaja
naiṣa priyo me bhakteṣu svādhīna-praṇayī bhava
api me pūrṇa-kāmasya navaṃ navam idaṃ priyaṃ
niḥśaṅkaḥ praṇayād bhakto yan māṃ paśyati bhāsate
sadā mukto’pi baddho’smi bhaktena sneha-rajjubhiḥ
ajito’pi jito’haṃ tair avaśyo’pi vaśī-kṛtaḥ

O son, please abandon this reverential mood. Due to your showing respect to Me, this has come about, but such awe and reverential behavior by devotees is not so dear to me. My devotees converse with me with a more dynamic affection. Despite being self-satisfied, the devotion of My devotees is everfresh. Being always free, I am bound by the ropes of affection by My devotees, and in spite of being unconquerable, I am conquered by My devotees. Though I can not be subdued by others, I am subdued by My devotees.

And furthermore in Śrī Hari-bhakti-sudhodaya (14.31, 32):

त्यक्त-बन्धु-धन-स्नेहो मयि यः कुरुते रतिम्
एकस् तस्यास्मि स च मे न ह्य् अन्यो’स्त्य् आवयोः सुहृत्
नित्यं च पूर्ण-कामस्य जन्मानि विविधानि मे
भक्त-सर्वेष्ट-दानाय तस्मात् किं ते प्रियं वद्

tyakta-bandhu-dhana-sneho mayi yaḥ kurute ratim
ekas tasyāsmi sa ca me na hy anyo’sty āvayoḥ suhṛt
nityaṃ ca pūrṇa-kāmasya janmāni vividhāni me
bhakta-sarveṣṭa-dānāya tasmāt kiṃ te priyaṃ vad

These devotees give up affection for even their own relatives, brothers, kinsmen and love Me alone. I alone am theirs and they alone are Mine. There is no one else. Despite My variegated pastimes such as My birth and deeds being lasting and self-satisfying for their pleasure, I grant them their desired results and accept this as natural. Therefore, O son, what is dear to yourself? Please ask Me for that boon.

After hearing these words, Śrī Prahlāda replied, and again Śrī Nṛsiṃhadeva spoke (Śrī Hari-bhakti-sudhodaya 14.32-33):

सत्यं मद्-दर्शनाद् अन्यद् वत्स नैवास्ति ते प्रियम्
अतएव हि सम्प्रीतिस् त्वयि मे’तीव वर्धते
अपि ते कृत-कृत्यस्य मत्-प्रियं कृत्यम् अस्ति हि
किञ्चिच् च दतुम् इष्टं मे मत्-प्रियार्थं वृणुस्व तत्

satyaṃ mad-darśanād anyad vatsa naivāsti te priyam
ataeva hi samprītis tvayi me’tīva vardhate
api te kṛta-kṛtyasya mat-priyaṃ kṛtyam asti hi
kiñcic ca datum iṣṭaṃ me mat-priyārthaṃ vṛṇusva tat

O son, you have told the truth. Other than My darśana there is nothing more dear to you. Therefore I am delighted, and your love for Me will grow more and more. O son, even though at this time you are fully satisfied. I also have one desire, that is, I am eager to offer you a benediction. For My pleasure, you should accept this boon.

In this way you, Prahlāda, rejected the topmost position given by Śrī Nṛsiṃadeva and only prayed for the benediction of devotion unto Śrī Hari lifetime after lifetime. Instead, you shunned liberation in the form of cessation of birth and death, thinking it harmful to bhakti. In other words, despite accepting countless births in comparison to liberation, you have only accepted bhakti.