varān vibho tvad varadeśvarād budhaḥ
kathaṁ vṛṇīte guṇa-vikriyātmanām |
ye nārakāṇām api santi dehināṁ
tān īśa kaivalya-pate vṛṇe na ca ||
na kāmaye nātha tad apy ahaṁ kvacin
na yatra yuṣmac-caraṇāmbujāsavaḥ |
mahattamāntar-hṛdayān mukha-cyuto
vidhatsva karṇāyutam eṣa me varaḥ ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 4.20.23–24)
“[Pṛthu Mahārāja to Bhagavān:] O Vibhu! How can an intelligent person request from you, the Īśvara of [even] the granters of boons [i.e., of the devatās such as Brahmā], the boons of [i.e., sought by] those for whom a transformation of the guṇas [i.e., the ahaṅkāra] is [considered] the self? O Īśa! O Master of kaivalya! I too [i.e., although I am not intelligent] do not request those [boons, i.e., objects enjoyable to the senses] which even those possessed of hellish bodies [i.e., the bodies of hogs, dogs, and so on] have. O Nātha! I never desire even that wherein the nectar of your lotus feet is not streaming out through the mouth from the inner heart of the greatest mahats. Please grant me ten-thousand ears [to drink in the nectar of that discussion of your lotus feet]. This is my request.”
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