वरान्विभो त्वद्वरदेश्वराद्बुध:
कथं वृणीते गुणविक्रियात्मनाम् ।
ये नारकाणामपि सन्ति देहिनां
तानीश कैवल्यपते वृणे न च ॥
न कामये नाथ तदप्यहं क्वचिन्
न यत्र युष्मच्चरणाम्बुजासव: ।
महत्तमान्तर्हृदयान्मुखच्युतो
विधत्स्व कर्णायुतमेष मे वर: ॥
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.”
Commentary
‘varaṁ ca mat kañcana vṛṇuṣva’ iti yad uktam, tatra sāmānyato varān ahaṁ naiva kāmaye | viśeṣato’pi kañcana varaṁ kaivalyam, tad api kvacit kadācid atiduḥkha-daśāyām api na kāmaye | kutaḥ? yatra kaivalye yuṣmac-caraṇāmbujasya āsavo makarandas tvadīya-guṇa-kathā-mādhurya-bharo nāsti | kīdṛśaḥ? mahattamānām antar hṛdayāt mukha-dvārā cyutaḥ antar-hṛdayenāsvādyānandodrekāt kīrtyamāna ity arthaḥ | śuka-mukhād amṛta-drava-saṁyutam itivan mahad-āsvādyatve sati tasyātimādhuryam udayate iti bhāvaḥ | madhuram api jalaṁ kṣāra-bhūmi-praviṣṭaṁ yathā virasībhavati, tathaivāvaiṣṇava-mukha-nirgato bhagavad-guṇo’pi nātirocaka iti vyatirekaś ca gamyaḥ | tarhi kiṁ kāmayasīty atrāha—vidhatsveti | mahatāṁ guṇa-kathāṁ cānāntyāt yatra yatra yair yair yā yā guṇa-kathāḥ kīrtyamānāḥ syus tāsām ekām api kathām ahaṁ tyaktuṁ na śaknomīty atilobhāt kaṇānantya-spṛhā, tena kaivlya-kāmā yebhyaḥ śrotrādīndriyebhyo priyebhyo druhyanti, tāny evāhaṁ kāmaye iti dyotitam | nanu ko’py evaṁ na vṛṇīte? satyam | mama tv eṣa eva varo, nānya iti |
(Excerpt from the Sārārtha-darśinī-ṭīkā)
“[Pṛthu Mahārāja says to Bhagavān:] In regard to your statement [to me in SB 4.20.16], ‘Request some boon from me,’ in general I never desire boons at all, and in particular, I never, even in a condition of extreme suffering, desire ‘some boon’ in the form of kaivalya [i.e., sāyujya-mukti]. Why? In kaivalya, the nectar (āsava) of your lotus feet, that is, the abundance of sweetness of discussion of your qualities, does not exist. Of what nature [is that nectar]? Streaming out through the mouth from the inner heart of the greatest mahats, that is, [it is] being articulated out of an abundance of bliss after being relished within the inner heart. This is the meaning. As it was said [in SB 1.1.3 that the rasa of Bhāgavatam is], ‘From the mouth of Śuka and constituted of liquid nectar,’ when it [i.e., the nectar of your lotus feet] is being relished by the mahats, then its greatest sweetness emerges. This is the purport. [On the contrary,] As even sweet water that has entered saline soil becomes distasteful, so even the qualities of Bhagavān brought forth from the mouth of a non-Vaiṣṇava are not very relishable—this distinction is also to be understood. ‘Then what do you desire?’ [Bhagavān may ask]. In that regard, he says, ‘Please grant me ten-thousand ears.’ I cannot give up even one discussion from among all the various discussions of your qualities that shall continuously be articulated by various persons in various places on account of mahats’ discussion of your qualities being endless. So, out of intense greed [to hear all those discussions], I have a desire for endless ears. Thus, I certainly desire those dear senses such as ears which those who desire kaivalya detest. This [import of Pṛthu’s prayer] is illuminated. ‘Well, does anybody make such a request?’ [Bhagavān may ask]. [To that, Pṛthu replies,] ‘True [i.e., I acknowledge this request is unusual]. This, however, and nothing else, is certainly my request.”