मैत्रेय उवाच
एवं ब्रुवाणं पुरुषार्थभाजनं
जनार्दनं प्राञ्जलयः प्रचेतसः ।
तद्दर्शनध्वस्ततमोरजोमला
गिरागृणन्गद्गदया सुहृत्तमम् ॥२१॥

maitreya uvÄca
evaá¹ bruvÄṇaá¹ puruá¹£Ärtha-bhÄjanaá¹
janÄrdanaá¹ prÄñjalayaḥ pracetasaḥ
tad-darÅ›ana-dhvasta-tamo-rajo-malÄ
girÄgṛṇan gadgadayÄ suhá¹›ttamam

 maitreyaḥ uvÄca - Maitreya said; evam - thus; bruvÄṇam - speaking; puruá¹£a-artha - of the ultimate goal of life; bhÄjanam - the bestower; jana-ardanam - who takes away all the disadvantages of the devotee; prÄñjalayaḥ - with folded hands; pracetasaḥ - the PracetÄ brothers; tat - Him; darÅ›ana - by seeing; dhvasta - dissipated; tamaḥ - of darkness; rajaḥ - of passion; malÄḥ - whose contamination; girÄ - with a voice; agṛṇan - offered prayers; gadgadayÄ - faltering; suhá¹›t-tamam - unto the greatest of all friends.


Text

The great sage Maitreya said: After the Personality of Godhead spoke thus, the PracetÄs began to offer Him prayers. The Lord is the bestower of all success in life and is the supreme benefactor. He is also the supreme friend who takes away all miserable conditions experienced by a devotee. In a faltering voice, due to ecstasy, the PracetÄs began to offer prayers. They were purified by the presence of the Lord, who was before them face to face.

Purport

The Lord is herein described as puruá¹£Ärtha-bhÄjanam, the bestower of the ultimate goal of life. Whatever success we want in life can be attained by the mercy of the Lord. Since the PracetÄs had already attained the Lord’s mercy, they were no longer subject to the contamination of the material modes. The material modes dissipated from them just as the darkness of night immediately dissipates when the sun rises. Because the Lord appeared before them, naturally all the contaminations of the material qualities of rajas and tamas completely disappeared. Similarly, when an unalloyed devotee chants the Hare Kṛṣṇa mahÄ-mantra, he is also purified of all material contamination because the name of the Lord and the Lord are identical. As stated in ÅšrÄ«mad-BhÄgavatam (1.2.17):

śṛṇvatÄá¹ sva-kathÄḥ kṛṣṇaḥ
 puṇya-Å›ravaṇa-kÄ«rtanaḥ
há¹›dy antaḥ-stho hy abhadrÄṇi
 vidhunoti suhá¹›t satÄm

“ŚrÄ« Kṛṣṇa, the Personality of Godhead, who is the ParamÄtmÄ [Supersoul] in everyone’s heart and the benefactor of the truthful devotee, cleanses desire for material enjoyment from the heart of the devotee who has developed the urge to hear His messages, which are in themselves virtuous when properly heard and chanted.â€

The holy name of the Lord is the Lord Himself. If one chants and hears, he becomes purified. Gradually all material contamination disappears. The PracetÄs were already purified due to the Lord’s presence before them, and they could therefore offer the proper prayers with folded hands. In other words, as soon as devotees are engaged in devotional service, they become transcendental to all material contamination immediately, as confirmed in Bhagavad-gÄ«tÄ (sa guṇÄn samatÄ«tyaitÄn brahma-bhÅ«yÄya kalpate). Sometimes the devotees are dissatisfied due to their not seeing the Supreme Personality of Godhead personally. When the PracetÄs saw the Supreme Lord personally present, their unhappiness vanished.