tathÄ na te mÄdhava tÄvakÄḥ kvacid
bhraÅ›yanti mÄrgÄt tvayi baddha-sauhá¹›dÄḥ
tvayÄbhiguptÄ vicaranti nirbhayÄ
vinÄyakÄnÄ«kapa-mÅ«rdhasu prabho

1 times this text was mentioned in purports to other texts: SB(1)

 tathÄ - like them (the nondevotees); na - not; te - they (the devotees); mÄdhava - O Lord, husband of the goddess of fortune; tÄvakÄḥ - the followers of the devotional path, the devotees; kvacit - in any circumstances; bhraÅ›yanti - fall down; mÄrgÄt - from the path of devotional service; tvayi - unto You; baddha-sauhá¹›dÄḥ - because of being fully attached to Your lotus feet; tvayÄ - by You; abhiguptÄḥ - always protected from all dangers; vicaranti - they move; nirbhayÄḥ - without fear; vinÄyaka-anÄ«kapa - the enemies who maintain paraphernalia to oppose the bhakti cult; mÅ«rdhasu - on their heads; prabho - O Lord.


Text

O MÄdhava, Supreme Personality of Godhead, Lord of the goddess of fortune, if devotees completely in love with You sometimes fall from the path of devotion, they do not fall like nondevotees, for You still protect them. Thus they fearlessly traverse the heads of their opponents and continue to progress in devotional service.

Purport

Devotees generally do not fall down, but if circumstantially they do, the Lord, because of their strong attachment to Him, gives them protection in all circumstances. Thus even if devotees fall down, they are still strong enough to traverse the heads of their enemies. We have actually seen that our Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement has many opponents, such as the “deprogrammers,†who instituted a strong legal case against the devotees. We thought that this case would take a long time to settle, but because the devotees were protected by the Supreme Personality of Godhead, we unexpectedly won the case in one day. Thus a case that was expected to continue for years was settled in a day because of the protection of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, who has promised in Bhagavad-gÄ«tÄ (9.31), kaunteya pratijÄnÄ«hi na me bhaktaḥ praṇaÅ›yati: “O son of KuntÄ«, declare it boldly that My devotee never perishes.†In history there are many instances of devotees like Citraketu, Indradyumna and MahÄrÄja Bharata who circumstantially fell down but were still protected. MahÄrÄja Bharata, for example, because of his attachment to a deer, thought of the deer at the time of death, and therefore in his next life he became a deer (yaá¹ yaá¹ vÄpi smaran bhÄvaá¹ tyajaty ante kalevaram). Because of protection by the Supreme Personality of Godhead, however, the deer remembered his relationship with the Lord and next took birth in a good brahminical family and performed devotional service (Å›ucÄ«nÄá¹ Å›rÄ«matÄá¹ gehe yoga-bhraṣṭo ’bhijÄyate). Similarly, Citraketu fell down and became a demon, Vá¹›trÄsura, but he too was protected. Thus even if one falls down from the path of bhakti-yoga, one is ultimately saved. If a devotee is strongly situated in devotional service, the Supreme Personality of Godhead has promised to protect him (kaunteya pratijÄnÄ«hi na me bhaktaḥ praṇaÅ›yati). But even if a devotee circumstantially falls down, he is protected by MÄdhava.

The word MÄdhava is significant. MÄ, mother Laká¹£mÄ«, the mother of all opulences, is always with the Supreme Personality of Godhead, and if a devotee is in touch with the Supreme Personality of Godhead, all the opulences of the Lord are ready to help him.

yatra yogeśvaraḥ kṛṣṇo
 yatra pÄrtho dhanur-dharaḥ
tatra śrīr vijayo bhūtir
 dhruvÄ nÄ«tir matir mama

(Bg. 18.78)

Wherever there is the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Kṛṣṇa, and His devotee Arjuna, PÄrtha, there is victory, opulence, extraordinary power and morality. The opulences of a devotee are not a result of karma-kÄṇá¸a-vicÄra. A devotee is always protected by all of the Supreme Lord’s opulences, of which no one can deprive him (teá¹£Äá¹ nityÄbhiyuktÄnÄá¹ yoga-ká¹£emaá¹ vahÄmy aham). Thus a devotee cannot be defeated by any opponents. A devotee, therefore, should not deviate knowingly from the path of devotion. The adherent devotee is assured all protection from the Supreme Personality of Godhead.