Verse 2.4.106-107

Sanskrit text, Unicode transliteration, Word-for-word and English translation of verse 2.4.106-107:

कैश्चिन् महद्भिस् तान् सर्वान् निवार्योक्तम् इदं रुषा ।
आः किम् एवं निगद्येत भवद्भिर् अबुधैर् इव ॥ १०६ ॥
कृष्णस्य भक्त-वात्सल्याद् यस्य कस्यापि कर्मणः ।
सङ्कीर्तनं महान् एव गुणः श्री-प्रभु-तोषणः ॥ १०७ ॥

kaiścin mahadbhis tān sarvān nivāryoktam idaṃ ruṣā |
āḥ kim evaṃ nigadyeta bhavadbhir abudhair iva || 106 ||
kṛṣṇasya bhakta-vātsalyād yasya kasyāpi karmaṇaḥ |
saṅkīrtanaṃ mahān eva guṇaḥ śrī-prabhu-toṣaṇaḥ || 107 ||

kaiścit–by certain; mahadbhiḥ–great souls; tān–to them; sarvān–all; nivārya–refuting; uktam–said; idam–this; ruṣā–with wrath; āḥ–Oh!; kim–how; evam–thus; nigadyeta–this can be spoken; bhavadbhiḥ–by you; abudhaiḥ–fools; iva–as if; kṛṣṇasya–of Śrī Kṛṣṇa; bhakta-vātsalyāt–out of affection for devotees; yasya–whose; kasya api–of any; karmaṇaḥ–of His activities; saṅkīrtanam–loud glorification; mahān–great; eva–certainly; guṇaḥ–virtue; śrīprabhu–to our glorious Lord; toṣaṇaḥ–pleasing.

There were some particularly distinguished servants among those residents of Vaikuṇṭha who became displeased with this dispute. They rebuked all of them, saying, “Why are you all speaking nonsensically like fools? Śrī Kṛṣṇa is so affectionate to His devotees that it is certainly a great quality to loudly chant any of His activities. Such saṅkīrtana greatly pleases our Lord also.”

Commentary: Dig-darśinī-ṭīkā with Bhāvānuvāda

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

The main servitors of the Lord of Vaikuṇṭha, aware of Bhagavān’s special glories, were displeased by this dispute. Thus, in this verse they tell the other servitors, “Why do you speak so foolishly? It is certainly auspicious to glorify all of Bhagavān’s activities. Why is this? Bhagavān is bhakta-vatsala, affectionate to His devotees. Therefore, He performs variegated pastimes only to give pleasure to the different types of devotees. There is no other reason for these pastimes.”

Śrī Bhagavān Himself has said to Brahmā (Padma Purāṇa):

मुहूर्त्तेनापि संहर्तुं शक्तो यद्य् अपि दानवान्
मद्-भक्तानां विनोदार्थं करोमि विविधाः क्रियाः
दर्शन-ध्यान-संस्पर्शैर् मत्स्य-कूर्म-विहङ्गमाः
स्वान्य् अपत्यानि पुष्यन्ति तत्राहम् अपि पद्मज

muhūrttenāpi saṃhartuṃ śakto yady api dānavān
mad-bhaktānāṃ vinodārthaṃ karomi vividhāḥ kriyāḥ
darśana-dhyāna-saṃsparśair matsya-kūrma-vihaṅgamāḥ
svāny apatyāni puṣyanti tatrāham api padmaja

Simply by My desire I can destroy all the demons in a moment. However, I perform My various pastimes of killing the demons in order to give pleasure to the devotees. Just as the fish nourish their offspring by their glances, the tortoises by remembering them, and the birds by touching them, I similarly maintain My devotees by seeing, remembering, and touching them.

None of Bhagavān’s pastimes are creations of the illusory potency, nor are they trivial like the play of a child. Therefore, glorification of the Gokula pastimes also satisfies Śrī Vaikuṇṭha-nātha.

In this way, the residents of Vaikuṇṭha exhibit three types of behavior according to their moods. The first group of residents does not find the Vraja pastimes suitable for the mood of Vaikuṇṭha. The second group is a little more open-minded. And the third group does not differentiate between any of Bhagavān’s pastimes.

There are reasons for these differences. One is that the residents of Vaikuṇṭha have a particular devotional perspective based on the longtime execution of one particular limb of bhakti, such as the practice of knowledge. Another reason is that in accordance with the variegated pastimes of Bhagavān, the residents of Vaikuṇṭha also exhibit a wide variety of behavior. There is no fault in this variegated behavior as it is only through pure loving devotion to Bhagavān that one can enter that abode. This idea has already been established with a reason and will be elaborated further on.