36
The Nectar of Devotion
children, society, friends, royal opulence and beautiful wife. He was so very lucky that the goddess of fortune was pleased to offer him all kinds of material concessions, but he never accepted any of these material opulences.” Śukadeva Gosvāmī eulogizes this behavior of King Bharata very highly. He says, “Any person whose heart is attracted by the transcendental qualities of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Madhusūdana, not to speak of material opulences, does not care even for that liberation which is aspired to by many great sages.”
In the  Bhāgavatam , Sixth Canto, 11th Chapter, 23rd verse, there is a similar statement by Vṛtrāsura, who addresses the Lord as follows: “My dear Lord, by leaving Your transcendental service I may be promoted to the planet called Dhruva-loka [the Pole Star], or I may gain lordship over all the planetary systems of the universe. But I do not aspire to this. Nor do I wish the mystic perfections of  yoga  practice, nor do I aspire to spiritual emancipation. All I wish for, my Lord, is Your association and transcendental service eternally.”
This statement is confirmed by Lord Śiva in the  Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam , Sixth Canto, 17th Chapter, 52nd verse, wherein Lord Śiva addresses Satī thusly: “My dear Satī, persons who are devoted to Nārāyaṇa [Kṛṣṇa] are not afraid of anything. If they are elevated to the higher planetary systems, or if they get liberation from material contamination, or if they are pushed down to the hellish condition of life—or, in fact, in any situation whatever—they are not afraid of anything. Simply because they have taken shelter of the lotus feet of Nārāyaṇa, for them any position in the material world is as good as another.”
There is a similar statement by Indra, the King of heaven, in  Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam , Sixth Canto, 18th Chapter, 52nd verse. There Indra addresses his mother in this manner: “My dear Mother [Aditi], persons who have given up all kinds of desire and are simply engaged in devotional service to the Lord know what is actually their self-interest. Such persons are actually serving their self-interests and are considered first-class experts in the matter of advancing to the perfectional stage of life.”
In the Seventh Canto of the  Bhāgavatam , 6th Chapter, 23rd verse, Mahārāj Prahlāda says: “My dear friends who are born into atheistic