न कामयेऽन्यं तव पादसेवना-
दकिञ्चनप्रार्थ्यतमाद्वरं विभो ।
आराध्य कस्त्वां ह्यपवर्गदं हरे
वृणीत आर्यो वरमात्मबन्धनम् ॥

na kāmaye’nyaṁ tava pāda-sevanād
akiñcana-prārthyatamād varaṁ vibho |
ārādhya kas tvāṁ hy apavargadaṁ hare |
vṛṇīta āryo varam ātma-bandhanam ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 10.51.56)

Translated according to the commentary in Bhakti Sandarbha (281):

“[Mucukunda to Bhagavān Śrī Kṛṣṇa:] O Vibhu, I desire no boon other than the service of your feet—that which is most worthy to be prayed for by the detached. O Hari, after worshiping [you], who would choose you as the bestower of apavarga [i.e., who would merely seek from you the boon of mokṣa]? A wise person [would choose], preferably, bondage of the self [instead of mokṣa, since in mokṣa one loses the opportunity to engage in that which is most worthy to be prayed for: the service of your feet].”

Translated according to an interpretation given in the Sārārtha-darśinī-ṭīkā:

“[Mucukunda to Bhagavān Śrī Kṛṣṇa:] O Vibhu, I desire no boon other than the service of your feet—that which is most worthy to be prayed for by the detached. O Hari, after worshiping you, the bestower of apavarga [i.e., bhakti], what wise person would choose a boon [that is a cause] of bondage of the self?”

Commentary

tad evaṁ viṣaya-sevā-mārgaṁ bhagavat-sevā-mārgaṁ ca vivicya varān vṛṇiṣveti yad uktaṁ tatrottaram āha—na kāmaya iti | akiñcanā nivṛttābhimānāḥ | āryo vivekī |
(Bhāvārtha-dīpikā)

“Thus, in this way, since it was stated [by Bhagavān Śrī Kṛṣṇa in SB 10.51.43], ‘Having distinguished between the path of service to objects of the senses (viṣaya) and the path of service to Bhagavān, choose some boons,’ Mucukunda states a response to this: na kāmaye … [i.e., he speaks SB 10.51.56]. ‘The detached’ (akiñcanāḥ) are those freed from conceit [alt., ego]. ‘Wise’ (ārya) means discerning.”

ataḥ pāda-sevanāt sākṣād vividha-paricaryayā anyaṁ varaṁ varaṇīyārthaṁ na kāmaye, tad eva kāmaya ity arthaḥ | kutaḥ? akiñcanāḥ mukti-paryantam arthaṁ tucchīkṛtya bhaktāḥ, tair api prārthyatamāt, prārthyā bhaktiḥ, prārthyataraṁ darśanaṁ, prārthyatamaṁ pāda-sevanaṁ tasmāt iti sarva-puruṣārthata ādhikyam uktam | tad eva hi yogyam ity āśayena sambodhayati—vibho he puruṣārthādhika-sukha-dāna-samartha!
(Excerpt from the Laghu Vaiṣṇava-toṣaṇī-ṭīkā)

“Then, I do not desire any boon, that is, any [supposedly] choice-worthy object, other than service to [your] feet, that is, than various direct attendant services [to you]. I desire that [i.e., direct service to you] alone. This is the meaning. Why? That is most worthy to be prayed for even by ‘the detached’ (akiñcanāḥ), that is, bhaktas who belittle all [other] objects including [even] mukti. That which is worthy to be prayed for (prārthyā) [by them] is bhakti, that which is more worthy to be prayed for (prārthyataraḥ) [by them] is sight (darśana) [of you], and that which is most worthy to be prayed for (prārthyatamam) [by them] is service to [your] feet. Thus, [the] superiority [of service to Śrī Bhagavān’s feet] in comparison to all [other] puruṣārthas is stated. Thus, that alone is suitable [to be prayed for], and with this hope he invokes, ‘O Vibhu! O you who are capable of giving bliss greater than the [the four basic] puruṣārthas!’”

akiñcanā mokṣa-paryanta-kāmanā-rahitāḥ | tatra hetuḥ—tvām ārādhya kas tvām apavargadaṁ santaṁ vṛṇīta, apavargadatayāvirbhavantaṁ samāśrayetety arthaḥ | varam ity avyayam īṣat priye | varam ātmano bandhanam eva vṛṇīta |
(Bhakti Sandarbha: 281)

“‘The detached’ (akiñcanāḥ) refers to those free from desire even for mokṣa. The cause in this regard [is as follows]: after worshiping you, who would choose you being the bestower of apavarga, meaning, [who would] take full shelter in you manifesting as being the bestower of apavarga [i.e., mokṣa]? [No one would.] [The second instance of the word] ‘Preferable’ (varam) [in this verse] is an indeclinable in the sense of slightly desirable. [A wise person] Would choose, preferably (varam), bondage of the self specifically [instead of mokṣa, since in mokṣa one loses the opportunity to engage in that which is most worthy to be prayed for: the service of your feet].”

varān vṛṇīṣveti yad uktaṁ tatrottaram āha—neti | akiñcanaiḥ prārthyā bhaktiḥ prārthyataraḥ premā prārthyatamaṁ pāda-sevanaṁ tasmāt | anyaṁ mokṣam api na kāmaye kimutānyān varān | apavargadaṁ bhakti-yoga-pradaṁ pañcama-skande apavarga-śabdena bhakti-yogokteḥ | atha vā dṛṣṭāntam api kaimutyenaivāha—hi apy arthe | apavargadaṁ mokṣārthitvāt mokṣapradam api tvām, ārādhya kaḥ khalu vivekī ātmano bandhanaṁ varaṁ tvayā ditsitam api vṛṇīta | ahaṁ tu mokṣe’pi nirapekṣaḥ kathaṁ tad vṛṇuyām iti bhāvaḥ |
(Sārārtha-darśinī-ṭīkā)

“Since it was stated [by Bhagavān Śrī Kṛṣṇa in SB 10.51.43], ‘Choose some boons,’ Mucukunda states a response to this: na kāmaye … [i.e., he speaks SB 10.51.56]. That which is worthy to be prayed for (prārthyā) by the detached is bhakti, that which is more worthy to be prayed for (prārthyataraḥ) is prema, and that which is most worthy to be prayed for (prārthyatamam) is service to the feet [of Śrī Bhagavān]. Even mokṣa, which is distinct from that, I do not desire, must less any other boons. ‘The bestower of apavarga’ (apavargadaṁ) means the bestower of bhakti-yoga as per the mention of bhakti-yoga by means of the word apavarga in the Fifth Canto [i.e., SB 5.19.19–20]. Alternately, he states even an example with a fortiori reasoning wherein [the word] hi in the sense of ‘even’ (api): what wise person, after worshiping you, the bestower of apavarga, that is, even (api) the bestower of mokṣa, because of [one’s] being a seeker of mokṣa, would choose a boon, even [if] given by you, [that is a cause] of bondage of the self? [No one would.] I, however, am indifferent even to mokṣa. [So,] Why would I choose that? [I never would.] This is the purport.”

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