Text 23] Lord Viṣṇu's Appearance in the Sacrificial Arena
793
These are all symptoms of His great affection for Pṛthu Mahārāja. Perceiving his fortunate position, Pṛthu Mahārāja could not fully look upon the Lord due to ecstasy, but still, in a faltering voice, he began to offer prayers.
TEXT 23
पृथुरुवाच
वरान् विभो त्वद्वरदेश्वराद् बुधः
कथं वृणीते गुणविक्रियात्मनाम् ।
ये नारकाणामपि सन्ति देहिनां
तानीश कैवल्यपते वृणे न च ॥२३॥
pṛthur uvāca
varān vibho tvad varadeśvarād budhaḥ
katham vṛṇīte guṇa-vikriyātmanām
ye nārakāṇām api santi dehinām
tān īśa kaivalya-pate vṛṇe na ca
pṛthuḥ uvāca —Pṛthu Mahārāja said;  varān —benedictions;  vibho —my dear Supreme Lord;  tvat —from You;  vara-da-īśvarāt —from the Supreme Personality of Godhead, the highest of the bestowers of benediction;  budhaḥ —a learned person;  katham —how;  vṛṇīte —could ask for;  guṇa-vikriyā —bewildered by the modes of material nature;  ātmanām —of the living entities;  ye —which;  nārakāṇām —of the living entities living in hell;  api —also;  santi —exist;  dehinām —of the embodied;  tān —all those;  īśa —O Supreme Lord;  kaivalya-pate —O bestower of merging in the existence of the Lord;  vṛṇe —I ask for;  na —not;  ca —also.
TRANSLATION
My dear Lord, You are the best of the demigods who can offer benedictions. Why therefore should any learned person ask You for benedictions that are meant for living entities who are bewildered by the modes of nature? Such benedictions are available automatically, even in the lives of living entities who are suffering in hellish conditions. My dear Lord, You can certainly bestow merging into Your existence, but I do not wish to have such a benediction.
PURPORT
There are different kinds of benedictions according to a person's demands. For  karmīs  the best benediction is promotion to the higher plane-