nemaṠviriñco na bhavo
na Å›rÄ«r apy aá¹…ga-samÅ›rayÄ
prasÄdaá¹ lebhire gopÄ«
yat tat prÄpa vimuktidÄt
na - not; imam - this exalted position; viriñcaḥ - Lord BrahmÄ; na - nor; bhavaḥ - Lord Åšiva; na - nor; Å›rīḥ - the goddess of fortune; api - indeed; aá¹…ga-samÅ›rayÄ - although she is always the better half of the Supreme Personality of Godhead; prasÄdam - mercy; lebhire - obtained; gopÄ« - mother YaÅ›odÄ; yat tat - as that which; prÄpa - obtained; vimukti-dÄt - from Kṛṣṇa, who gives deliverance from this material world.
This is a comparative study between mother YaÅ›odÄ and other devotees of the Lord. As stated in Caitanya-caritÄmá¹›ta (Ä€di 5.142), ekale īśvara kṛṣṇa, Ära saba bhá¹›tya: the only supreme master is Kṛṣṇa, and all others are His servants. Kṛṣṇa has the transcendental quality of bhá¹›tya-vaÅ›yatÄ, becoming subordinate to His bhá¹›tya, or servant. Now, although everyone is bhá¹›tya and although Kṛṣṇa has the quality of becoming subordinate to His bhá¹›tya, the position of mother YaÅ›odÄ is the greatest. Lord BrahmÄ is bhá¹›tya, a servant of Kṛṣṇa, and he is Ädi-kavi, the original creator of this universe (tene brahma há¹›dÄ ya Ädi-kavaye). Nonetheless, even he could not obtain such mercy as mother YaÅ›odÄ. As for Lord Åšiva, he is the topmost Vaiṣṇava (vaiṣṇavÄnÄá¹ yathÄ Å›ambhuḥ). What to speak of Lord BrahmÄ and Lord Åšiva, the goddess of fortune, Laká¹£mÄ«, is the Lord’s constant companion in service, since she always associates with His body. But even she could not get such mercy. Therefore MahÄrÄja ParÄ«ká¹£it was surprised, thinking, “What did mother YaÅ›odÄ and Nanda MahÄrÄja do in their previous lives by which they got such a great opportunity, the opportunity to be the affectionate father and mother of Kṛṣṇa?â€
In this verse there are three negative pronouncements — na, na, na. When anything is uttered three times — “do it, do it, do it†— one should understand that this is meant to indicate great stress on a fact. In this verse, we find na lebhire, na lebhire, na lebhire. Yet mother YaÅ›odÄ is in the supermost exalted position, and thus Kṛṣṇa has become completely subordinate to her.
The word vimuktidÄt is also significant. There are different types of liberation, such as sÄyujya, sÄlokya, sÄrÅ«pya, sÄrá¹£á¹i and sÄmÄ«pya, but vimukti means “special mukti.†When after liberation one is situated on the platform of prema-bhakti, one is said to have achieved vimukti, “special mukti.†Therefore the word na is mentioned. That exalted platform of premÄ is described by ÅšrÄ« Caitanya MahÄprabhu as premÄ pum-artho mahÄn, and mother YaÅ›odÄ naturally acts in such an exalted position in loving affairs. She is therefore a nitya-siddha devotee, an expansion of Kṛṣṇa’s hlÄdinÄ« potency, His potency to enjoy transcendental bliss through expansions who are special devotees (Änanda-cinmaya-rasa-pratibhÄvitÄbhiḥ). Such devotees are not sÄdhana-siddha.