Verse 1.17.26

Bengali text, Devanagari and Unicode transliteration of verse 1.17.26:

অতএব নাম তা’ন ‘সেবক-বত্সল’ আপনে হারিযা বাডাযেন ভৃত্য-বল ॥ ২৬ ॥

अतएव नाम ता’न ‘सेवक-वत्सल’ आपने हारिया बाडायेन भृत्य-बल ॥ २६ ॥

ataeva nāma tā’na ‘sevaka-vatsala’ āpane hāriyā bāḍāyena bhṛtya-bala || 26 ||

ataeva nama ta’na ‘sevaka-vatsala’ apane hariya badayena bhrtya-bala (26)

English translation:

(26) The Lord is therefore known as sevaka-vatsala, or He who is favorably inclined to His servants. He accepts defeat in order to increase His devotees’ glories.

Commentary: Gauḍīya-bhāṣya by Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura:

On the path of regulative devotional service in which the worshipable Lord is Viṣṇu, the qualities of opulence, rather than sweetness, and regulative awe and reverence, rather than attachment, are more prominent. But in Kṛṣṇa’s service, which is full of sweetness, the sweetness of the Lord’s opulence is not covered, and since affection for His servants is extremely prominent therein, those loving servants are more prestigious and exalted. By this, one should not misunderstand that the diminished prominence of opulence in sweetness diminishes the prominence of sweetness, or that the Lord’s being controlled is an exaggeration.

In the Śrīmad Bhāgavatam (1.9.37), the Lord’s quality of being conquered by His devotee is described by the great devotee Bhīṣmadeva, as he prays to Kṛṣṇa from his bed of arrows as follows: “Fulfilling my desire and sacrificing His own promise, He got down from the chariot, took up its wheel, and ran towards me hurriedly, just as a lion goes to kill an elephant. He even dropped His outer garment on the way.”

The Lord’s quality of being controlled by the love of His devotees is explained by Śrī Śukadeva Gosvāmī to Mahārāja Parīkṣit in the Śrīmad Bhāgavatam (10.9.18-19) as follows: “Because of Mother Yaśodā’s hard labor, her whole body became covered with perspiration, and the flowers and comb were falling from her hair. When child Kṛṣṇa saw His mother thus fatigued, He became merciful to her and agreed to be bound. O Mahārāja Parīkṣit, this entire universe, with its great, exalted demigods like Lord Śiva, Lord Brahmā and Lord Indra, is under the control of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Yet the Supreme Lord has one transcendental attribute: He comes under the control of His devotees.

This was now exhibited by Kṛṣṇa in this pastime.”