Bhaktivedanta VedaBase: Śrīmad Bhāgavatam 11.17.43

śiloñcha-vrittyā paritushta-citto

dharmam mahāntam virajam jushānah

mayy arpitātmā griha eva tishthan

nāti-prasaktah samupaiti śāntim

SYNONYMS

śila-uñcha — of gleaning grains; vrittyā — by the occupation; paritushta — fully satisfied; cittah — whose consciousness; dharmam — religious principles; mahāntam — magnanimous and hospitable; virajam — purified of material desire; jushānah — cultivating; mayi — in Me; arpita — dedicated; ātmā — whose mind; grihe — at home; eva — even; tishthan — remaining; na — not; ati — very; prasaktah — attached; samupaiti — achieves; śāntim — liberation.

TRANSLATION

A brāhmana householder should remain satisfied in mind by gleaning rejected grains from agricultural fields and marketplaces. Keeping himself free of personal desire, he should practice magnanimous religious principles, with consciousness absorbed in Me. In this way a brāhmana may stay at home as a householder without very much attachment and thus achieve liberation.

PURPORT

Mahāntam refers to magnanimous religious principles such as very hospitably receiving guests, even those who are uninvited and unexpected. Householders must always be magnanimous and charitable to others, being alert to curb unnecessary affection and attachment in family life. In the past, very renounced brāhmana householders would collect grains that had fallen on the ground in the marketplace or those that had been left behind in the fields after harvesting. The most important item here is mayy arpitātmā, or fixing the mind in Lord Krishna. Despite his material situation, anyone who constantly meditates upon the Lord can become a liberated soul. As stated in Bhakti-rasāmrita-sindhu (1.2.187),

īhā yasya harer dāsye

karmanā manasā girā

nikhilāsv api avasthāsu

jīvan-muktah sa ucyate

"A person acting in Krishna consciousness [or, in other words, in the service of Krishna] with his body, mind, intelligence and words is a liberated person, even within the material world, although he may be engaged in many so-called material activities."

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His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda, Founder Ācārya of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness
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