भूतानां देवचरितं दु:खाय च सुखाय च ।
सुखायैव हि साधूनां त्वादृशामच्युतात्मनाम् ॥
bhūtānāṁ deva-caritaṁ duḥkhāya ca sukhāya ca |
sukhāyaiva hi sādhūnāṁ tvādṛśām acyutātmanām ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 11.2.5; cited in Hari-bhakti-vilāsa: 10.208)
“[Vasudeva to Nārada Ṛṣi:] The actions of the devas lead to both suffering and happiness for living beings, while those of sādhus like you, whose hearts are fixed on Acyuta, lead only to happiness.”
Commentary
devair api mahatām upamānam anucitam ity āha—bhūtānām iti | devānāṁ caritam ativṛṣṭy-ādinā bhūtānāṁ duḥkhāyāpi bhavati | tvayā sadṛśānām api | ataḥ acyute ātmā mano-mātraṁ, na tu sarvendriya-vṛttir yeṣāṁ teṣām api |
(Dig-darśinī-ṭīkā)
“Comparison of the great [i.e., the sādhus] even with the devas is improper. Thus, he speaks this verse (bhūtānāṁ …). The actions of the devas also lead to suffering for living beings as in the case of extreme rain and so forth. ‘Like you’ (tvādṛśām) means even those similar to you [i.e., even sādhus of lesser stature than yourself, so what to speak of you]. Therefore, even [the actions] of those only whose minds, and not, rather, the functions of all the senses, are fixed on Acyuta too [lead only to happiness for living beings].”