Canto 10: The Summum BonumChapter 2: Prayers by the Demigods for Lord Kṛṣṇa in the Womb

Bhaktivedanta VedaBase: Śrīmad Bhāgavatam 10.2.10

arciṣyanti manuṣyās tvāḿ

sarva-kāma-vareśvarīm

dhūpopahāra-balibhiḥ

sarva-kāma-vara-pradām

SYNONYMS

arciṣyanti — will worship; manuṣyāḥ — human society; tvām — unto you; sarva-kāma-vara-īśvarīm — because you are the best of the demigods who can fulfill all material desires; dhūpa — by incense; upahāra — by presentations; balibhiḥ — by different types of worship through sacrifice; sarva-kāma — of all material desires; vara — the blessings; pradām — one who can bestow.

TRANSLATION

By sacrifices of animals, ordinary human beings will worship you gorgeously, with various paraphernalia, because you are supreme in fulfilling the material desires of everyone.

PURPORT

As stated in Bhagavad-gītā (7.20), kāmais tais tair hṛta jñānāḥ prapadyante 'nya-devatāḥ: "Those whose minds are distorted by material desires surrender unto demigods." Therefore the word manuṣya, meaning "human being," here refers to one who does not know the actual goal of life. Such a person wants to enjoy the material world by taking birth in a highly elevated family with the benefits of education, beauty and immense wealth, which in this material world are desirable. One who has forgotten the real aim of life may worship goddess Durgā, māyā-śakti, under various names, for different purposes, and in different places. As there are many holy places for the worship of Kṛṣṇa, there are also many holy places in India for the worship of Durgādevī, or Māyādevī, who took birth as the daughter of Yaśodā. After cheating Kaḿsa, Māyādevī dispersed herself to various places, especially in Vindhyācala, to accept regular worship from ordinary men. A human being should actually be interested in understanding ātma-tattva, the truth of ātmā, the spirit soul, and Paramātmā, the supreme soul. Those who are interested in ātma-tattva worship the Supreme Personality of Godhead (yasmin vijñāte sarvam evaḿ vijñātaḿ bhavati). However, as explained in the next verse of this chapter, those who cannot understand ātma-tattva (apaśyatām ātma-tattvam) worship Yogamāyā in her different features. Therefore Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam (2.1.2) says:

śrotavyādīni rājendra

nṛṇāḿ santi sahasraśaḥ

apaśyatām ātma-tattvaḿ

gṛheṣu gṛha-medhinām

"Those persons who are materially engrossed, being blind to the knowledge of ultimate truth, have many subject matters for hearing in human society, O Emperor." Those who are interested in remaining in this material world and are not interested in spiritual salvation have many duties, but for one who is interested in spiritual salvation, the only duty is to surrender fully unto Kṛṣṇa (sarva-dharmān parityajya mām ekaḿ śaraṇaḿ vraja [Bg. 18.66]). Such a person is not interested in material enjoyment.

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