Bhaktivedanta VedaBase: Śrīmad Bhāgavatam 4.22.15

tad ahaḿ kṛta-viśrambhaḥ

suhṛdo vas tapasvinām

sampṛcche bhava etasmin

kṣemaḥ kenāñjasā bhavet

SYNONYMS

tat — therefore; aham — I; kṛta-viśrambhaḥ — being completely assured; su-hṛdaḥ — friend; vaḥ — our; tapasvinām — suffering material pangs; sampṛcche — wish to inquire; bhave — in this material world; etasmin — this; kṣemaḥ — ultimate reality; kena — by which means; añjasā — without delay; bhavet — can be achieved.

TRANSLATION

I am completely assured that personalities like you are the only friends for persons who are blazing in the fire of material existence. I therefore ask you how in this material world we can very soon achieve the ultimate goal of life.

PURPORT

When saintly persons go from door to door to see those who are too much materially engaged, it is to be understood that they do not go to ask anything for their personal benefit. It is a fact that saintly persons go to materialists just to give real information of the auspicious. Mahārāja Pṛthu was assured of this fact; therefore instead of wasting time by asking the Kumāras about their welfare, he preferred to inquire from them whether he could soon be relieved from the dangerous position of materialistic existence. This was not, however, a question personally for Pṛthu Mahārāja. It was raised to teach the common man that whenever one meets a great saintly person, one should immediately surrender unto him and inquire about relief from the material pains of existence. Therefore Śrīla Narottama dāsa Ṭhākura says, saḿsāra-viṣānale, divāniśi hiyā jvale, juḍāite nā kainu upāya: "we are always suffering from material pangs, and our hearts are burning, but we cannot find any way out of it." The materialistic person can also be called a tapasvī, which means someone who is always suffering from material pains. One can get rid of all these material pains only when he takes shelter of the chanting of the Hare Kṛṣṇa mantra. This is also explained by Narottama dāsa Ṭhākura: golokera prema-dhana, harināma-sańkīrtana, rati nā janmila kene tāya. Narottama dāsa Ṭhākura regretted that he did not pursue his attraction for the transcendental vibration of the Hare Kṛṣṇa mantra. The conclusion is that all persons in this material world are suffering from material pains, and if one wants to get rid of them, he must associate with saintly persons, pure devotees of the Lord, and chant the mahā-mantra, Hare Kṛṣṇa, Hare Kṛṣṇa, Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa, Hare Hare/ Hare Rāma, Hare Rāma, Rāma Rāma, Hare Hare. That is the only auspicious way for materialistic persons.

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