muktÄnÄm api siddhÄnÄá¹
nÄrÄyaṇa-parÄyaṇaḥ
sudurlabhaḥ praÅ›ÄntÄtmÄ
koá¹iá¹£v api mahÄ-mune
muktÄnÄm - of persons liberated or freed from the bondage of ignorance; api - even; siddhÄnÄm - of persons who have achieved perfection; nÄrÄyaṇa - of the Supreme Personality of Godhead; parÄyaṇaḥ - the devotee; su-durlabhaḥ - very rare; praÅ›Änta-ÄtmÄ - completely satisfied, desireless; koá¹iá¹£u - among many millions; api - certainly; mahÄ-mune - O great sage.
“ ‘O great sage, out of many millions of materially liberated people who are free from ignorance, and out of many millions of siddhas who have nearly attained perfection, there is hardly one pure devotee of NÄrÄyaṇa. Only such a devotee is actually completely satisfied and peaceful.’
This verse is quoted from ÅšrÄ«mad-BhÄgavatam (6.14.5). The nÄrÄyaṇa-parÄyaṇa, the devotee of Lord NÄrÄyaṇa, is the only blissful person. One who becomes a nÄrÄyaṇa-parÄyaṇa is already liberated from material bondage. He already possesses all the perfections of yoga. Unless one comes to the platform of nÄrÄyaṇa-parÄyaṇa and passes over the platform of bhukti-mukti-siddhi, he cannot be fully satisfied. That is the pure devotional stage.
anyÄbhilÄá¹£itÄ-śūnyaá¹ jñÄna-karmÄdy-anÄvá¹›tam
ÄnukÅ«lyena kṛṣṇÄnu- śīlanaá¹ bhaktir uttamÄ
One who desires nothing but Kṛṣṇa and who is not influenced by the process of jñÄna-mÄrga (cultivation of knowledge) actually becomes free from ignorance. A first-class person is one who is not influenced by karma (fruitive activity) or yoga (mystic power). He simply depends on Kṛṣṇa and is satisfied in his devotional service. According to ÅšrÄ«mad-BhÄgavatam (6.17.28): nÄrÄyaṇa-parÄḥ sarve na kutaÅ›cana bibhyati. Such a person is never afraid of anything. For him, heaven and hell are the same. Not knowing the situation of a nÄrÄyaṇaparÄyaṇa, rascals become envious. By the grace of NÄrÄyaṇa, a devotee is situated in the most opulent position in the material world. Rascals are envious of NÄrÄyaṇa and His devotee, but the devotee endeavors to please another devotee of NÄrÄyaṇa because he knows that by pleasing NÄrÄyaṇa’s representative one directly pleases Lord NÄrÄyaṇa. Therefore a devotee offers the best comforts and facilities to his spiritual master. Outsiders who have no knowledge of NÄrÄyaṇa are envious of both NÄrÄyaṇa and His devotee. Consequently when they see that NÄrÄyaṇa’s devotee is opulently situated, they become even more envious. But when the devotee of NÄrÄyaṇa asks such foolish people to come live with him in the same comfortable situation, they do not agree because they cannot give up illicit sex, meat-eating, intoxication and gambling. Therefore the materialist refuses the company of a nÄrÄyaṇa-parÄyaṇa, although he is envious of the devotee’s material situation. In Western countries when ordinary men — storekeepers and workers — see our devotees living and eating sumptuously and yet not working, they become very eager to know where they get the money. Such people become envious and ask, “How is it possible to live so comfortably without working? How is it you have so many cars, bright faces and nice clothes?†Not knowing that Kṛṣṇa looks after His devotees, such people become surprised, and some become envious.
