FolioCorpusBhagavad-gītā

Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 5.18.10

మాగారదారాత్మజవిత్తబన్ధుషు సఙ్గో యది స్యాద్భ‍గవత్ప్రియేషు న: । య: ప్రాణవృత్త్యా పరితుష్ట ఆత్మవాన్ సిద్ధ్యత్యదూరాన్న తథేన్ద్రియప్రియ: ॥ ౧౦ ॥
māgāra-dārātmaja-vitta-bandhuṣu
[maagaara-daaraatmaja-vitta-bandhushu]
saṅgo yadi syād bhagavat-priyeṣu naḥ
[sango yadi syaad bhagavat-priyeshu nah]
yaḥ prāṇa-vṛttyā parituṣṭa ātmavān
[yah praana-vrittyaa paritushta aatmavaan]
siddhyaty adūrān na tathendriya-priyaḥ
[siddhyaty adooraan na tathendriya-priyah]
Word-for-word
mā — not agāra — house dāra — wife ātma-ja — children vitta — bank balance bandhuṣu — among friends and relatives saṅgaḥ — association or attachment yadi — if syāt — there must be bhagavat-priyeṣu — among persons to whom the Supreme Personality of Godhead is very dear naḥ — of us yaḥ — anyone who prāṇa-vṛttyā — by the bare necessities of life parituṣṭaḥ — satisfied ātma-vān — who has controlled his mind and realized his self siddhyati — becomes successful adūrāt — very soon na — not tathā — so much indriya-priyaḥ — a person attached to sense gratification.
Blended reading (Sanskrit + English inline)
māgāra-dārātmaja-vitta-bandhuṣu
mā
not
agāra
house
dāra
wife
ātma-ja
children
vitta
bank balance
bandhuṣu
among friends and relatives
saṅgo yadi syād bhagavat-priyeṣu naḥ
saṅgaḥ
association or attachment
yadi
if
syāt
there must be
bhagavat-priyeṣu
among persons to whom the Supreme Personality of Godhead is very dear
naḥ
of us
yaḥ prāṇa-vṛttyā parituṣṭa ātmavān
yaḥ
anyone who
prāṇa-vṛttyā
by the bare necessities of life
parituṣṭaḥ
satisfied
ātma-vān
who has controlled his mind and realized his self
siddhyaty adūrān na tathendriya-priyaḥ
siddhyati
becomes successful
adūrāt
very soon
na
not
tathā
so much
indriya-priyaḥ
a person attached to sense gratification.
My dear Lord, we pray that we may never feel attraction for the prison of family life, consisting of home, wife, children, friends, bank balance, relatives and so on. If we do have some attachment, let it be for devotees, whose only dear friend is Kṛṣṇa. A person who is actually self-realized and who has controlled his mind is perfectly satisfied with the bare necessities of life. He does not try to gratify his senses. Such a person quickly advances in Kṛṣṇa consciousness, whereas others, who are too attached to material things, find advancement very difficult.
Purport

When Śrī Kṛṣṇa Caitanya Mahāprabhu was requested to explain the duty of a Vaiṣṇava, a Kṛṣṇa conscious person, He immediately said, asat-saṅga-tyāga-ei vaiṣṇava-ācāra. The first business of a Vaiṣṇava is to give up the association of persons who are not devotees of Kṛṣṇa and who are too attached to material things — wife, children, bank balance and so on. Prahlāda Mahārāja also prays to the Personality of Godhead that he may avoid the association of nondevotees attached to the materialistic way of life. If he must be attached to someone, he prays to be attached only to a devotee.

A devotee is not interested in unnecessarily increasing the demands of the senses for gratification. Of course, as long as one is in this material world, one must have a material body, and it must be maintained for executing devotional service. The body can be maintained very easily by eating kṛṣṇa-prasāda. As Kṛṣṇa says in Bhagavad-gītā (9.26) :

patraṁ puṣpaṁ phalaṁ toyaṁ yo me bhaktyā prayacchati tad ahaṁ bhakty-upahṛtam aśnāmi prayatātmanaḥ

“If one offers Me with love and devotion a leaf, a flower, fruit or water, I will accept it.” Why should the menu be unnecessarily increased for the satisfaction of the tongue? Devotees should eat as simply as possible. Otherwise, attachment for material things will gradually increase, and the senses, being very strong, will soon require more and more material enjoyment. Then the real business of life — to advance in Kṛṣṇa consciousness — will stop.

— A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda
Gauḍīya Ācāryas
Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura Gauḍīya
Translation
If we have attachment for devotees of the Lord, let attachment to house, wife, children or wealth not take place. Fully determined, he who is satisfied with living by begged food reaches perfection. One who satisfies his senses reaches perfection slowly. For a person attached to the Lord, association with devotees is favorable and bad association is an obstacle. However, by the strength of good association, bad association will on its own disappear. If we have association of devotees, attachment to house, wife, children and wealth should not arise. This means that gradually attachment to these things will be destroyed. “Without house and wealth, without enjoyment, the body will suffer. How can one survive?” One is satisfied with filling the stomach by some begged food (prāṇa-vṛttyā), because he is fully determined (ātmavān). One who satisfies his senses reaches perfection slowly. Or, if one has association with devotees, one should not have attachment to house and wife, because if both types of association coexist, one cannot attain the Lord quickly. One who is controlled, satisfied with begged food, reaches perfection. Or, let us not have attachment to house and wife! If there is association with devotees, even when association is absent, by perfection of bhakti, knowledge produced by bad association becomes powerless. “Then let us give up bad association. Let us pray only for good association.” True, association with devotees devoid of bad association quickly brings results. One who is satisfied with begged food and who has attained association with devotees reaches perfection. One should not explain the verse to mean “If there is association, let it not be bad association, but association with devotees.” This suggests that no association is preferable to good association. Thus the philosophy of bhakti becomes nullified. This will be contrary to the meaning of the next verse. It will also be contrary to verses like the following: tulayāma lavenāpi na svargaṁ nāpunar-bhavam | bhagavat-saṅgi-saṅgasya martyānāṁ kim utāśiṣaḥ || Let us not compare even a particle of association with devotees to Svarga or liberation, what to speak of any blessings in this world. (SB 1.18.13)
Related lectures
📝 My note

Source: vedabase.io

← Read full Chapter 18