भक्तियोगस्य तत् सर्वमन्तरायतयार्भकः ।
मन्यमानो हृषीकेशं स्मयमान उवाच ह ॥१॥
Å›rÄ«-nÄrada uvÄca
bhakti-yogasya tat sarvam
antarÄyatayÄrbhakaḥ
manyamÄno hṛṣīkeÅ›aá¹
smayamÄna uvÄca ha
Å›rÄ«-nÄradaḥ uvÄca - NÄrada Muni said; bhakti-yogasya - of the principles of devotional service; tat - those (blessings or benedictions offered by Lord Ná¹›siá¹hadeva); sarvam - each and every one of them; antarÄyatayÄ - because of being impediments (on the path of bhakti-yoga); arbhakaḥ - PrahlÄda MahÄrÄja, although only a boy; manyamÄnaḥ - considering; hṛṣīkeÅ›am - unto Lord Ná¹›siá¹hadeva; smayamÄnaḥ - smiling; uvÄca - said; ha - in the past.
The saint NÄrada Muni continued: Although PrahlÄda MahÄrÄja was only a boy, when he heard the benedictions offered by Lord Ná¹›siá¹hadeva he considered them impediments on the path of devotional service. Thus he smiled very mildly and spoke as follows.
Material achievements are not the ultimate goal of devotional service. The ultimate goal of devotional service is love of Godhead. Therefore although PrahlÄda MahÄrÄja, Dhruva MahÄrÄja, AmbarÄ«á¹£a MahÄrÄja, Yudhiá¹£á¹hira MahÄrÄja and many devotee kings were materially very opulent, they accepted their material opulence in the service of the Lord, not for their personal sense gratification. Of course, possessing material opulence is always fearful because under the influence of material opulence one may be misdirected from devotional service. Nonetheless, a pure devotee (anyÄbhilÄá¹£itÄ-śūnyam) is never misdirected by material opulence. On the contrary, whatever he possesses he engages one hundred percent in the service of the Lord. When one is allured by material possessions, they are considered to be given by mÄyÄ, but when one uses material possessions fully for service, they are considered God’s gifts, or facilities offered by Kṛṣṇa for enhancing one’s devotional service.
