ये दारागारपुत्राप्त प्राणान् वित्तमिमं परम् ।
हित्वा मां शरणं याताः कथं तांस्त्यक्तुमुत्सहे ॥६५॥

ye dÄrÄgÄra-putrÄpta-
prÄṇÄn vittam imaá¹ param
hitvÄ mÄá¹ Å›araṇaá¹ yÄtÄḥ
kathaá¹ tÄá¹s tyaktum utsahe

 ye - those devotees of Mine who; dÄra - wife; agÄra - house; putra - children, sons; Äpta - relatives, society; prÄṇÄn - even life; vittam - wealth; imam - all these; param - elevation to the heavenly planets or becoming one by merging into Brahman; hitvÄ - giving up (all these ambitions and paraphernalia); mÄm - unto Me; Å›araṇam - shelter; yÄtÄḥ - having taken; katham - how; tÄn - such persons; tyaktum - to give them up; utsahe - I can be enthusiastic in that way (it is not possible).


Text

Since pure devotees give up their homes, wives, children, relatives, riches and even their lives simply to serve Me, without any desire for material improvement in this life or in the next, how can I give up such devotees at any time?

Purport

The Supreme Personality of Godhead is worshiped by the words brahmaṇya-devÄya go-brÄhmaṇa-hitÄya ca. Thus He is the well-wisher of the brÄhmaṇas. DurvÄsÄ Muni was certainly a very great brÄhmaṇa, but because he was a nondevotee, he could not sacrifice everything in devotional service. Great mystic yogÄ«s are actually self-interested. The proof is that when DurvÄsÄ Muni created a demon to kill MahÄrÄja AmbarÄ«á¹£a, the King stayed fixed in his place, praying to the Supreme Personality of Godhead and depending solely and wholly on Him, whereas when DurvÄsÄ Muni was chased by the SudarÅ›ana cakra by the supreme will of the Lord, he was so perturbed that he fled all over the world and tried to take shelter in every nook and corner of the universe. At last, in fear of his life, he approached Lord BrahmÄ, Lord Åšiva and ultimately the Supreme Personality of Godhead. He was so interested in his own body that he wanted to kill the body of a Vaiṣṇava. Therefore, he did not have very good intelligence, and how can an unintelligent person be delivered by the Supreme Personality of Godhead? The Lord certainly tries to give all protection to His devotees who have given up everything for the sake of serving Him.

Another point in this verse is that attachment to dÄrÄgÄra-putrÄpta — home, wife, children, friendship, society and love — is not the way to achieve the favor of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. One who is attached to hearth and home for material pleasure cannot become a pure devotee. Sometimes a pure devotee may have a habit or attraction for wife, children and home but at the same time want to serve the Supreme Lord to the best of his ability. For such a devotee, the Lord makes a special arrangement to take away the objects of his false attachment and thus free him from attachment to wife, home, children, friends and so on. This is special mercy bestowed upon the devotee to bring him back home, back to Godhead.