GLORIFICATION OF THE LORD IS POTENT

WHEN UTTERED FROM THE MOUTH OF A PURE DEVOTEE

TRANSLATION. My dear Lord, I therefore do not wish to have the benediction of merging into Your existence, a benediction in which there is no existence of the nectarean beverage of Your lotus feet. I want the benediction of at least one million ears, for thus I may be able to hear about the glories of Your lotus feet from the mouths of Your pure devotees.

PURPORT. In the previous verse Maharaja Prthu addressed the Lord as kaivalya-pati, the master of the liberation of merging into His existence. This does not mean that he was anxious for kaivalya liberation. That is made clear in this verse: "My dear Lord, I do not want such a benediction." Maharaja Prthu wanted to have a million ears to hear the glories of the lotus feet of the Lord. He specifically mentioned that the glories of the Lord should emanate from the mouths of pure devotees, who speak from the cores of their hearts. It is stated in the beginning of Srimad-Bhagavatam (1.1.3), suka-mukhad amrta-drava-samyutam: the nectar of Srimad-Bhagavatam became more relishable because it emanated from the mouth of Srila Sukadeva Gosvami. One might think that these glories of the Lord can be heard from anywhere, from the mouths of either devotees or nondevotees, but here it is specifically mentioned that the glories of the Lord must emanate from the mouths of pure devotees. Sri Sanatana Gosvami has strictly prohibited hearing from the mouth of a nondevotee. There are many professional reciters of Srimad-Bhagavatam who speak the narrations very ornamentally, but a pure devotee does not like to hear from them because such glorification of the Lord is simply a vibration of material sound. But when heard from the mouth of a pure devotee, glorification of the Lord is immediately effective.The words satam prasangan mama virya-samvidah (SB. 3.25.25) mean that glorification of the Lord is potent when uttered from the mouth of a pure devotee.

(S.B. 4.20.24)