410
Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam
[Canto 4, Ch. 9]
dust. A devotee is always engaged in drinking the honey from the lotus feet of the Lord. Unless one is freed from all material desires, he cannot actually taste the honey from the Lord's lotus feet. One has to discharge his devotional duties without being disturbed by the coming and going of material circumstances. This desirelessness for material prosperity is called  niṣkāma . One should not mistakenly think that  niṣkāma  means giving up all desires. That is impossible. A living entity is eternally existent, and he cannot give up desires. A living entity must have desires; that is the symptom of life. When there is a recommendation to become desireless, it is to be understood that this means that we should not desire anything for our sense gratification. For a devotee this state of mind,  niḥspṛha , is the right position. Actually every one of us already has an arrangement for our standard of material comforts. A devotee should always remain satisfied with the standard of comforts offered by the Lord, as stated in the  Īśopaniṣad  ( tena tyaktena bhuñjīthā ). This saves time for executing Kṛṣṇa consciousness.
TEXT 37
आकर्ण्यत्मजमायान्तं सम्परेत्य यथाऽऽगतम् । राजा न श्रद्धे भद्रमभद्रस्य कुतो मम ॥३७॥
ākarṇyātma-jam āyāntaṁ samparetya yathāgatam rājā na śraddadhe bhadram abhadrasya kuto mama
ākarṇya—having heard; ātma-jam—his son; āyāntam—coming back; samparetya—after dying; yathā—as if; āgatam—coming back; rājā—King Uttānapāda; na—did not; śraddadhe—have any confidence; bhadram—good fortune; abhadrasya—of the impious; kutaḥ—whence; mama—my.
TRANSLATION
When King Uttānapāda heard that his son Dhruva was coming back home, as if coming back to life after death, he could not put his faith in this message, for he was doubtful how it could happen. He considered himself the most wretched, and therefore he thought that it was not possible for him to attain such good fortune.
PURPORT
Dhruva Mahārāja, a five-year-old boy, went to the forest for penance and austerity, and the King could not at all believe that a small boy of such a tender age could live in the forest. He was certain that he was dead.