Bhaktivedanta VedaBase: Śrīmad Bhāgavatam 4.31.7

tan naḥ pradyotayādhyātma-

jñānaḿ tattvārtha-darśanam

yenāñjasā tariṣyāmo

dustaraḿ bhava-sāgaram

SYNONYMS

tat — therefore; naḥ — for us; pradyotaya — kindly awaken; adhyātma — transcendental; jñānam — knowledge; tattva — Absolute Truth; artha — for the purpose of; darśanam — philosophy; yena — by which; añjasā — easily; tariṣyāmaḥ — we can cross over; dustaram — formidable; bhava-sāgaram — the ocean of nescience.

TRANSLATION

Dear master, kindly enlighten us in transcendental knowledge, which may act as a torchlight by which we may cross the dark nescience of material existence.

PURPORT

The Pracetās requested Nārada to enlighten them in transcendental knowledge. Generally when a common man meets a saintly person, he wishes to get some material benediction. However, the Pracetās were not interested in material benefit, for they had enjoyed all this sufficiently. Nor did they want the fulfillment of their material desires. They were simply interested in crossing the ocean of nescience. Everyone should be interested in getting out of these material clutches. Everyone should approach a saintly person in order to be enlightened in this connection. One should not bother a saintly person to get blessings for material enjoyment. Generally, householders receive saintly persons to get their blessings, but their real aim is to become happy in the material world. Asking such material benedictions is not recommended in the śāstras.

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