Canto 4: Creation of the Fourth Order | Chapter 22: Pṛthu Mahārāja's Meeting with the Four Kumāras |
Bhaktivedanta VedaBase: Śrīmad Bhāgavatam 4.22.7
pṛthur uvāca
aho ācaritaḿ kiḿ me
mańgalaḿ mańgalāyanāḥ
yasya vo darśanaḿ hy āsīd
durdarśānāḿ ca yogibhiḥ
SYNONYMS
pṛthuḥ uvāca — King Pṛthu spoke; aho — O Lord; ācaritam — practice; kim — what; me — by me; mańgalam — good fortune; mańgala-āyanāḥ — O personified good fortune; yasya — by which; vaḥ — your; darśanam — audience; hi — certainly; āsīt — became possible; durdarśānām — visible with great difficulty; ca — also; yogibhiḥ — by great mystic yogīs.
TRANSLATION
King Pṛthu spoke: My dear great sages, auspiciousness personified, it is very difficult for even the mystic yogīs to see you. Indeed, you are very rarely seen. I do not know what kind of pious activity I performed for you to grace me by appearing before me without difficulty.
PURPORT
When something uncommon happens in one's progressive spiritual life, it should be understood to be incurred by ajñāta-sukṛti, or pious activities beyond one's knowledge. To see personally the Supreme Personality of Godhead or His pure devotee is not an ordinary incident. When such things happen, they should be understood to be caused by previous pious activity, as confirmed in Bhagavad-gītā (7.28): yeṣāḿ tv anta-gataḿ pāpaḿ janānāḿ puṇya-karmaṇām. One who is completely freed from all the resultant actions of sinful activities and who is absorbed only in pious activities can engage in devotional service. Although Mahārāja Pṛthu's life was full of pious activities, he was wondering how his audience with the Kumāras happened. He could not imagine what kind of pious activities he had performed. This is a sign of humility on the part of King Pṛthu, whose life was so full of pious activities that even Lord Viṣṇu came to see him and predicted that the Kumāras would also come.
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His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda, Founder Ācārya of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness