FolioCorpusŚrīmad-Bhāgavatam

Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 5.3.15

यदु ह वाव तव पुनरदभ्रकर्तरिह समाहूतस्तत्रार्थधियां मन्दानां नस्तद्यद्देवहेलनं देवदेवार्हसि साम्येन सर्वान् प्रतिवोढुमविदुषाम् ॥ १५ ॥
yad u ha vāva tava punar adabhra-kartar iha samāhūtas tatrārtha-dhiyāṁ mandānāṁ nas tad yad deva-helanaṁ deva-devārhasi sāmyena sarvān prativoḍhum aviduṣām.
[yad u ha vaava tava punar adabhra-kartar iha samaahootas tatraartha-dhiyaam mandaanaam nas tad yad deva-helanam deva-devaarhasi saamyena sarvaan prativodhum avidushaam.]
Word-for-word
yat — because u ha vāva — indeed tava — Your punaḥ — again adabhra-kartaḥ — O Lord, who perform many activities iha — here, in this arena of sacrifice samāhūtaḥ — invited tatra — therefore artha-dhiyām — who aspire to fulfill material desires mandānām — not very intelligent naḥ — of us tat — that yat — which deva-helanam — disrespect of the Supreme Personality of Godhead deva-deva — Lord of lords arhasi — please sāmyena — because of Your equipoised position sarvān — everything prativoḍhum — tolerate aviduṣām — of us, who are all ignorant.
Blended reading (Sanskrit + English inline)
yad u ha vāva tava punar adabhra-kartar iha samāhūtas tatrārtha-dhiyāṁ mandānāṁ nas tad yad deva-helanaṁ deva-devārhasi sāmyena sarvān prativoḍhum aviduṣām.
yat
because
u ha vāva
indeed
tava
Your
punaḥ
again
adabhra-kartaḥ
O Lord, who perform many activities
iha
here, in this arena of sacrifice
samāhūtaḥ
invited
tatra
therefore
artha-dhiyām
who aspire to fulfill material desires
mandānām
not very intelligent
naḥ
of us
tat
that
yat
which
deva-helanam
disrespect of the Supreme Personality of Godhead
deva-deva
Lord of lords
arhasi
please
sāmyena
because of Your equipoised position
sarvān
everything
prativoḍhum
tolerate
aviduṣām
of us, who are all ignorant.
O Lord, You perform many wonderful activities. Our only aim was to acquire a son by performing this great sacrifice; therefore our intelligence is not very sharp. We are not experienced in ascertaining life’s goal. By inviting You to this negligible sacrifice for some material motive, we have certainly committed a great offense at Your lotus feet. Therefore, O Lord of lords, please excuse our offense because of Your causeless mercy and equal mind.
Purport

The priests were certainly unhappy to have called the Supreme Lord from Vaikuṇṭha for such an insignificant reason. A pure devotee never wants to see the Lord unnecessarily. The Lord is engaged in various activities, and the pure devotee does not want to see Him whimsically, for his own sense gratification. The pure devotee simply depends on the Lord’s mercy, and when the Lord is pleased, he can see Him face to face. The Lord is unseen even by demigods like Lord Brahmā and Lord Śiva. By calling on the Supreme Lord, the priests of Nābhi Mahārāja proved themselves unintelligent; nonetheless, the Lord came out of His causeless mercy. All of them therefore wanted to be excused by the Lord.

Worship of the Supreme Lord for material gain is not approved by authorities. As stated in Bhagavad-gītā (7.16) :

catur-vidhā bhajante māṁ janāḥ sukṛtino ’rjuna ārto jijñāsur arthārthī jñānī ca bharatarṣabha

“O best among the Bharatas [Arjuna], four kinds of pious men render devotional service unto Me — the distressed, the desirer of wealth, the inquisitive, and he who is searching for knowledge of the Absolute.”

Initiation into bhakti begins when one is in a distressed condition or in want of money, or when one is inquisitive to understand the Absolute Truth. Nonetheless, people who approach the Supreme Lord in this way are not actually devotees. They are accepted as pious ( sukṛtinaḥ ) due to their inquiring about the Absolute Truth, the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Not knowing the various activities and engagements of the Lord, such people unnecessarily disturb the Lord for material gain. However, the Lord is so kind that even though disturbed, He fulfills the desires of such beggars. The pure devotee is anyābhilāṣitā-śūnya; he has no motive behind his worship. He is not conducted by the influence of māyā in the form of karma or jñāna. The pure devotee is always prepared to execute the order of the Lord without personal consideration. The ṛtvijaḥ, the priests at the sacrifice, knew very well the distinction between karma and bhakti, and because they considered themselves under the influence of karma, fruitive activity, they begged the Lord’s pardon. They knew that the Lord had been invited to come for some paltry reason.

— A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda
Gauḍīya Ācāryas
Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura Gauḍīya
Translation
O performer of many actions! Lord of lords! You should tolerate the offense of persons like us who are foolish and full of material desires and who have called you to this sacrifice, since you are equal to all. Asking pardon for their offense of asking for a material benediction, they conclude their praise of the Lord. O performer of many activities! This means “Though you rarely show yourself to Brahmā, you have shown yourself to us, who are full of desires.” You should tolerate the offense of us priests who have called you here because of our foolishness and material desires, because, O Lord of lords, you are equal to all (sāmyena).
Related lectures
Personal Guidance
Even sincere worshipers sometimes call on the Lord for trivial reasons and then realize the disproportion. Honest acknowledgment of one's small motives — and the Lord's mercy in coming anyway — is itself a kind of growth.
Reflection Questions
  • What small motives have you brought into your worship that you would now name more honestly?
  • Where has the Lord shown up anyway, despite your having called for something far beneath His glory?
📝 My note

Source: vedabase.io

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