Å›rÄ«-nÄrada uvÄca
naivÄdbhutaá¹ tvayi vibho 'khila-loka-nÄthe
maitrÄ« janeá¹£u sakaleá¹£u damaḥ khalÄnÄm
niḥśreyasÄya hi jagat-sthiti-raká¹£aṇÄbhyÄá¹
svairÄvatÄra urugÄya vidÄma suá¹£á¹hu
Å›rÄ«-nÄradaḥ uvÄca - ÅšrÄ« NÄrada said; na - not; eva - at all; adbhutam - surprising; tvayi - for You; vibho - O almighty one; akhila - of all; loka - worlds; nÄthe - for the ruler; maitrÄ« - friendship; janeá¹£u - toward people; sakaleá¹£u - all; damaḥ - the subduing; khalÄnÄm - of the envious; niḥśreyasÄya - for the highest benefit; hi - indeed; jagat - of the universe; sthiti - by maintenance; raká¹£aṇÄbhyÄm - and protection; svaira - freely chosen; avatÄraḥ - descent; uru-gÄya - O You who are praised universally; vidÄma - we know; suá¹£á¹hu - well.
ÅšrÄ« NÄrada said: O almighty Lord, it is no surprise that You, the ruler of all worlds, show friendship for all people and yet subdue the envious. As we well know, You descend by Your sweet will in order to bestow the highest good on this universe by maintaining and protecting it. Thus Your glories are widely sung.
As pointed out by ÅšrÄ«la ViÅ›vanÄtha CakravartÄ«, all living beings are in fact servants of the Lord. The ÄcÄrya quotes the following verse from the Padma PurÄṇa to elucidate:
a-kÄreṇocyate viṣṇuḥ
Å›rÄ«r u-kÄreṇa kathyate
ma-kÄras tu tayor dÄsaḥ
pañca-viá¹Å›aḥ prakÄ«rtitaḥ
“[In the mantra om] the letter a signifies Lord Viṣṇu, the letter u signifies the goddess ÅšrÄ«, and the letter m refers to their servant, who is the twenty-fifth element.†The twenty-fifth element is the jÄ«va, the living being. Every living being is a servant of the Lord, and the Lord is the true friend of every living being. Thus even when the Lord chastises envious persons like JarÄsandha, such punishment amounts to real friendship, since both the Lord’s chastisement and His blessing are for the benefit of the living being.
