FolioCorpusŚrīmad-Bhāgavatam

Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 9.4.66

मयि निर्बद्धहृदया: साधव: समदर्शना: । वशीकुर्वन्ति मां भक्त्या सत्स्त्रिय: सत्पतिं यथा ॥ ६६ ॥
mayi nirbaddha-hṛdayāḥ
[mayi nirbaddha-hridayaah]
sādhavaḥ sama-darśanāḥ
[saadhavah sama-darshanaah]
vaśe kurvanti māṁ bhaktyā
[vashe kurvanti maam bhaktyaa]
sat-striyaḥ sat-patiṁ yathā
[sat-striyah sat-patim yathaa]
mayi — unto Me nirbaddha-hṛdayāḥ — firmly attached in the core of the heart sādhavaḥ — the pure devotees sama-darśanāḥ — who are equal to everyone vaśe — under control kurvanti — they make mām — unto Me bhaktyā — by devotional service sat-striyaḥ — chaste women sat-patim — unto the gentle husband yathā — as.
Blended reading (Sanskrit + English inline)
mayi nirbaddha-hṛdayāḥ
mayi
unto Me
nirbaddha-hṛdayāḥ
firmly attached in the core of the heart
sādhavaḥ sama-darśanāḥ
sādhavaḥ
the pure devotees
sama-darśanāḥ
who are equal to everyone
vaśe kurvanti māṁ bhaktyā
vaśe
under control
kurvanti
they make
mām
unto Me
bhaktyā
by devotional service
sat-striyaḥ sat-patiṁ yathā
sat-striyaḥ
chaste women
sat-patim
unto the gentle husband
yathā
as.
As chaste women bring their gentle husbands under control by service, the pure devotees, who are equal to everyone and completely attached to Me in the core of the heart, bring Me under their full control.

In this verse, the word sama-darśanāḥ is significant. The pure devotee is actually equal toward everyone, as confirmed in Bhagavad-gītā (18.54) : brahma-bhūtaḥ prasannātmā na śocati na kāṅkṣati/ samaḥ sarveṣu bhūteṣu. Universal brotherhood is possible when one is a pure devotee ( paṇḍitāḥ sama-darśinaḥ ). A pure devotee is actually learned because he knows his constitutional position, he knows the position of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, and he knows the relationship between the living entity and the Supreme Lord. Thus he has full spiritual knowledge and is automatically liberated ( brahma-bhūtaḥ ). He can therefore see everyone on the spiritual platform. He can comprehend the happiness and distress of all living entities. He understands that what is happiness to him is also happiness to others and that what is distress to him is distressing for others. Therefore he is sympathetic to everyone. As Prahlāda Mahārāja said:

śoce tato vimukha-cetasa indriyārtha- māyā-sukhāya bharam udvahato vimūḍhān

( Bhāg. 7.9.43 )

People suffer from material distress because they are not attached to the Supreme Personality of Godhead. A pure devotee’s chief concern, therefore, is to raise the ignorant mass of people to the sense of Kṛṣṇa consciousness.

— A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda
Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura Gauḍīya
Translation
As chaste women bring their gentle husbands under control by service, the pure devotees, who see others’ suffering as their own and are completely attached to me in the core of the heart, bring me under their full control. I am hard to control (durvaśa) by Brahmavādīs like you, Durvāsā, but I am controlled by the devotees. Since their hearts are fixed in me, they are without material desire (sādhavaḥ) and they see others’ suffering as their own (sama-darśanāḥ).
Related verses
Like chaste wives control gentle husbands by service, pure devotees, equal-visioned and heart-attached, control the Lord. Service, not assertion, is the path to mastery in this relationship.
Reflection Questions
  • What does it teach me that even the Lord can be 'controlled' by service?
  • Whose heart in my life would soften completely if I served them with chastity rather than tried to win them with cleverness?
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