Text 42]
Answers by Citing the Lord's Version
539
of sense control for executing higher duties. He desired the welfare of everyone as servants of God, and anyone desiring the welfare of the members of his family and generations must conduct a moral, religious life. The highest life of moral principles is to become a devotee of the Lord because one who is a pure devotee of the Lord has all the good qualities of the Lord. On the other hand, one who is not a devotee of the Lord, however qualified he may be in the mundane sense of the term, cannot be qualified with any good quality worthy of the name. The pure devotees of the Lord, like Brahmā and persons in the chain of discipline succession, do not do anything to instruct their subordinates without acting accordingly themselves.
TEXT 41
तं नारदः प्रियतमो रिक्थादानामनुव्रतः । शुश्रूषमाणः शीलेन प्रश्रयेण दमेन च ॥४०॥
tam nāradaḥ priyatamo rikthādānām anuvrataḥ śuśrūṣamāṇaḥ śīlena praśrayeṇa damena ca
tam—unto him; nāradaḥ—the great sage Nārada; priyatamaḥ—very dear; rikthādānām—of the inheritor sons; anuvrataḥ—very obedient; śuśrūṣamāṇaḥ—always ready to serve; śīlena—by good behavior; praśrayeṇa—by meekness; damena—by sense control; ca—also.
TRANSLATION
Nārada, the most dear of the inheritor sons of Brahmā, always ready to serve his father, strictly follows the instructions of his father by his mannerly behavior, meekness and sense control.
TEXT 42
मायां विविदिषन् विष्णोमयिशस्य महामुनिः । महाभागवतो राजन् पितरं पर्यतोषयत् ॥४१॥