कृष्णस्यानुग्रहोऽप्येभ्यो नानुमीयेत सत्तमैः ।
स चाविर्भवति श्रीमन्नधिकृत्यैव सेवकम् ॥
हनूमदादिवत्तस्य कापि सेवा कृतास्ति न ।
परं विघ्नाकुले चित्ते स्मरणं क्रियते मया ॥
kṛṣṇasyānugraho’py ebhyo nānumīyeta sattamaiḥ |
sa cāvirbhavati śrīmann adhikṛtyaiva sevakam ||
hanūmad-ādivat tasya kāpi sevā kṛtāsti na |
paraṁ vighnākule citte smaraṇaṁ kriyate mayā ||
(Bṛhad Bhāgavatāmṛta: 1.4.19–20)
“Even Kṛṣṇa’s favor shall not be inferred from these [i.e., from someone’s overcoming impediments, teaching children, acting like a sādhu, being compassionate to living beings in distress, not accepting mokṣa, pleasing people in general, and other characteristics spoken of in the previous verse] by the best of the sat. O blessed one, furthermore that [i.e., Kṛṣṇa’s favor] appears only towards a servant [i.e., it is not bestowed upon someone like me who does not engage in service to Bhagavān]. Not sort of service to him like Hanumān [performs] has been performed by me. Only remembrance [of him] with a mind beset with disturbances is performed by me.”
Commentary
nanu sevā-śabdābhidheya-nava-vidha-bhakti-madhye sarvendriya-mukhya-mano’rpaṇaṁ smaraṇam eva mukhyaṁ, tat-kartṛtvāc ca tvam eva bhakta-mukhyo’nugraha-bhara-pātram, tatrāha—vighnair laya-vikṣepādi-rūpair ākule vyāpte | ataḥ sadā cittasya vighnākulatvāt tatra samyak smaraṇam eva na jāyata iti bhāvaḥ | yad vā smaraṇasya citta-dharmatvāc cittasya ca vighnākula-svabhāvakatvāt smaraṇaṁ na mukhyam iti bhāvaḥ |
(Excerpt from the Dig-darśinī-ṭīkā)
“[An assertion is made by Nārada after Prahlāda says that he only engages in remembrance and not service:] ‘Well, among the nine types of bhakti referred to by the word ‘service’ (sevā), specifically remembrance (smaraṇa), that is, offering the mind, the foremost of all the senses, [to Śrī Bhagavān] is the foremost, and because of [your] being a performer of that, you specifically are the foremost bhakta and recipient of an abundance of [Śrī Bhagavān’s] grace.’ To this, he [i.e., Prahlāda] says [his mind is] ‘beset’ (ākule), that is, filled, with disturbances in the form of slackness (laya), distraction (vikṣepa), and so forth. The purport is that thus, because of the mind’s always being beset with disturbances, rightful remembrance (smaraṇa) of him does not come about. Alternately, the purport is that because of remembrance’s (smaraṇa’s) being a characteristic of the mind, and the mind’s being naturally beset with disturbances, remembrance (smaraṇa) is not foremost [among the nine types of bhakti, that is, among the various ways one can render service to Śrī Bhagavān].”