ká¹›tsna-prasÄda-sumukhaá¹ spá¹›haṇīya-dhÄma
snehÄvaloka-kalayÄ há¹›di saá¹spṛśantam
Å›yÄme pá¹›thÄv urasi Å›obhitayÄ Å›riyÄ svaÅ›-
cÅ«á¸Ämaṇiá¹ subhagayantam ivÄtma-dhiṣṇyam
ká¹›tsna-prasÄda - blessing everyone; su-mukham - auspicious face; spá¹›haṇīya - desirable; dhÄma - shelter; sneha - affection; avaloka - looking upon; kalayÄ - by expansion; há¹›di - within the heart; saá¹spṛśantam - touching; Å›yÄme - unto the Lord with blackish color; pá¹›thau - broad; urasi - chest; Å›obhitayÄ - being decorated; Å›riyÄ - goddess of fortune; svaḥ - heavenly planets; cÅ«á¸Ä-maṇim - summit; subhagayantam - spreading good fortune; iva - like; Ätma - the Supreme Personality of Godhead; dhiṣṇyam - abode.
When the Lord came, He was pleased with everyone; therefore it is stated here, ká¹›tsna-prasÄda-sumukham. The Lord knew that even the offensive doormen were His pure devotees, although by chance they committed an offense at the feet of other devotees. To commit an offense against a devotee is very dangerous in devotional service. Lord Caitanya therefore said that an offense to a devotee is just like a mad elephant run loose; when a mad elephant enters a garden, it tramples all the plants. Similarly, an offense unto the feet of a pure devotee murders one’s position in devotional service. On the part of the Lord there was no offended mood because He does not accept any offense created by His sincere devotee. But a devotee should be very cautious of committing offenses at the feet of another devotee. The Lord, being equal to all, and being especially inclined to His devotee, looked as mercifully at the offenders as at the offended. This attitude of the Lord was due to His unlimited quantity of transcendental qualities. His cheerful attitude towards the devotees was so pleasing and heart-touching that His very smile was attractive for them. That attraction was glorious not only for all the higher planets of this material world, but beyond, for the spiritual world also. Generally a human being has no idea of what the constitutional position is in the higher material planets, which are far better constituted in regard to all paraphernalia, yet the Vaikuṇá¹ha planet is so pleasing and so celestial that it is compared to the middle jewel or locket in a necklace of jewels.
In this verse the words spá¹›haṇīya-dhÄma indicate that the Lord is the reservoir of all pleasure because He has all the transcendental qualities. Although only some of these are aspired for by persons who hanker after the pleasure of merging in the impersonal Brahman, there are other aspirants who want to associate with the Lord personally as His servants. The Lord is so kind that He gives shelter to everyone — both impersonalists and devotees. He gives shelter to the impersonalists in His impersonal Brahman effulgence, whereas He gives shelter to the devotees in His personal abodes known as the Vaikuṇá¹halokas. He is especially inclined to His devotee; He touches the core of the heart of the devotee simply by smiling and glancing over him. The Lord is always served in the Vaikuṇá¹haloka by many hundreds and thousands of goddesses of fortune, as stated by the Brahma-saá¹hitÄ (laká¹£mÄ«-sahasra-Å›ata-sambhrama-sevyamÄnam). In this material world, one is glorified if he is favored even a pinch by the goddess of fortune, so we can simply imagine how glorified is the kingdom of God in the spiritual world, where many hundreds and thousands of goddesses of fortune engage in the direct service of the Lord. Another feature of this verse is that it openly declares where the Vaikuṇá¹halokas are situated. They are situated as the summit of all the heavenly planets, which are above the sun globe, at the upper limit of the universe, and are known as Satyaloka, or Brahmaloka. The spiritual world is situated beyond the universe. Therefore it is stated here that the spiritual world, Vaikuṇá¹haloka, is the summit of all planetary systems.