Canto 5: The Creative Impetus | Chapter 19: A Description of the Island of Jambūdvīpa |
Bhaktivedanta VedaBase: Śrīmad Bhāgavatam 5.19.21
etad eva hi devā gāyanti —
aho amīṣāḿ kim akāri śobhanaḿ
prasanna eṣāḿ svid uta svayaḿ hariḥ
yair janma labdhaḿ nṛṣu bhāratājire
mukunda-sevaupayikaḿ spṛhā hi naḥ
SYNONYMS
etat — this; eva — indeed; hi — certainly; devāḥ — all the demigods; gāyanti — chant; aho — oh; amīṣām — of these inhabitants of Bhāratavarṣa; kim — what; akāri — was done; śobhanam — pious, beautiful activities; prasannaḥ — pleased; eṣām — upon them; svit — or; uta — it is said; svayam — personally; hariḥ — the Supreme Personality of Godhead; yaiḥ — by whom; janma — birth; labdham — obtained; nṛṣu — in human society; bhārata-ajire — in the courtyard of Bhārata-varṣa; mukunda — the Supreme Personality of Godhead, who can offer liberation; sevā-aupayikam — which is the means of serving; spṛhā — desire; hi — indeed; naḥ — our.
TRANSLATION
Since the human form of life is the sublime position for spiritual realization, all the demigods in heaven speak in this way: How wonderful it is for these human beings to have been born in the land of Bhārata-varṣa. They must have executed pious acts of austerity in the past, or the Supreme Personality of Godhead Himself must have been pleased with them. Otherwise, how could they engage in devotional service in so many ways? We demigods can only aspire to achieve human births in Bhārata-varṣa to execute devotional service, but these human beings are already engaged there.
PURPORT
These facts are further explained in Caitanya-caritāmṛta (Ādi 9.41):
bhārata-bhūmite haila manuṣya-janma yāra
janma sārthaka kari' kara para-upakāra
"One who has taken his birth as a human being in the land of India [Bhārata-varṣa] should make his life successful and work for the benefit of all other people."
There are many facilities in India, Bhārata-varṣa, for executing devotional service. In Bhārata-varṣa, all the ācāryas contributed their experience, and Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu personally appeared to teach the people of Bhārata-varṣa how to progress in spiritual life and be fixed in devotional service to the Lord. From all points of view, Bhārata-varṣa is the special land where one can very easily understand the process of devotional service and adopt it to make his life successful. If one makes his life successful in devotional service and then preaches devotional service in other parts of the world, people throughout the world will actually benefit.
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His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda, Founder Ācārya of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness