योऽध्रुवेणात्मना नाथा न धर्मं न यशः पुमान् ।
ईहेत भूतदयया स शोच्यः स्थावरैरपि ॥८॥

yo 'dhruveṇÄtmanÄ nÄthÄ
na dharmaá¹ na yaÅ›aḥ pumÄn
Ä«heta bhÅ«ta-dayayÄ
sa Å›ocyaḥ sthÄvarair api

 yaḥ - anyone who; adhruveṇa - impermanent; ÄtmanÄ - by the body; nÄthÄḥ - O lords; na - not; dharmam - religious principles; na - not; yaÅ›aḥ - fame; pumÄn - a person; Ä«heta - endeavors for; bhÅ«ta-dayayÄ - by mercy for the living beings; saḥ - that person; Å›ocyaḥ - pitiable; sthÄvaraiḥ - by the immobile creatures; api - even.


Text

O demigods, one who has no compassion for humanity in its suffering and does not sacrifice his impermanent body for the higher causes of religious principles or eternal glory is certainly pitied even by the immovable beings.

Purport

In this regard, a very exalted example was set by Lord ÅšrÄ« Caitanya MahÄprabhu and the Six GosvÄmÄ«s of Vá¹›ndÄvana. Concerning ÅšrÄ« Caitanya MahÄprabhu it is said in ÅšrÄ«mad-BhÄgavatam (11.5.34):

tyaktvÄ sudustyaja-surepsita-rÄjya-laká¹£mÄ«á¹
 dharmiṣṭha Ärya-vacasÄ yad agÄd araṇyam
mÄyÄ-má¹›gaá¹ dayitayepsitam anvadhÄvad
 vande mahÄ-puruá¹£a te caraṇÄravindam

“We offer our respectful obeisances unto the lotus feet of the Lord, upon whom one should always meditate. He left His householder life, leaving aside His eternal consort, whom even the denizens of heaven adore. He went into the forest to deliver the fallen souls, who are put into illusion by material energy.†To accept sannyÄsa means to commit civil suicide, but sannyÄsa is compulsory, at least for every brÄhmaṇa, every first-class human being. ÅšrÄ« Caitanya MahÄprabhu had a very young and beautiful wife and a very affectionate mother. Indeed, the affectionate dealings of His family members were so pleasing that even the demigods could not expect such happiness at home. Nevertheless, for the deliverance of all the fallen souls of the world, ÅšrÄ« Caitanya MahÄprabhu took sannyÄsa and left home when He was only twenty-four years old. He lived a very strict life as a sannyÄsÄ«, refusing all bodily comforts. Similarly, His disciples the Six GosvÄmÄ«s were ministers who held exalted positions in society, but they also left everything to join the movement of ÅšrÄ« Caitanya MahÄprabhu. ÅšrÄ«nivÄsa Ä€cÄrya says:

tyaktvÄ tÅ«rṇam aÅ›eá¹£a-maṇá¸ala-pati-Å›reṇīṠsadÄ tucchavat
 bhÅ«tvÄ dÄ«na-gaṇeÅ›akau karuṇayÄ kaupÄ«na-kanthÄÅ›ritau

These GosvÄmÄ«s left their very comfortable lives as ministers, Zamindars and learned scholars and joined ÅšrÄ« Caitanya MahÄprabhu’s movement, just to show mercy to the fallen souls of the world (dÄ«na-gaṇeÅ›akau karuṇayÄ). Accepting very humble lives as mendicants, wearing no more than loincloths and torn quilts (kaupÄ«na-kantha), they lived in Vá¹›ndÄvana and followed ÅšrÄ« Caitanya MahÄprabhu’s order to excavate Vá¹›ndÄvana’s lost glories.

Similarly, everyone else with a materially comfortable condition in this world should join the Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement to elevate the fallen souls. The words bhÅ«ta-dayayÄ, mÄyÄ-má¹›gaá¹ dayitayepsitam and dÄ«na-gaṇeÅ›akau karuṇayÄ all convey the same sense. These are very significant words for those interested in elevating human society to a proper understanding of life. One should join the Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement, following the examples of such great personalities as ÅšrÄ« Caitanya MahÄprabhu, the Six GosvÄmÄ«s and, before them, the great sage DadhÄ«ci. Instead of wasting one’s life for temporary bodily comforts, one should always be prepared to give up one’s life for better causes. After all, the body will be destroyed. Therefore one should sacrifice it for the glory of distributing religious principles throughout the world.