Text 18] The Activities of Mahārāja Priyavrata
35
ihā yasya harer dāsye karmaṇā manasā girā nikhilāsv apy avasthāsu jīvan-muktaḥ sa ucyate
“Regardless of one’s circumstances, if one fully engages his activities, mind and words in the devotional service of the Lord, he should be understood to be a liberated person.” Śrīla Bhaktivinoda Thākura was a responsible officer and a householder, yet his service to the cause of expanding the mission of Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu is unique. Śrīla Prabodhānanda Sarasvatī Thākura says,  durdāntendriya-kāla-sarpa-paṭalī protkhāta-daṁṣṭrāyate . The sense organs are certainly our greatest enemies, and they are therefore compared to venomous serpents. However, if a venomous serpent is bereft of its poison fangs, it is no longer fearful. Similarly, if the senses are engaged in the service of the Lord, there is no need to fear their activities. The devotees in the Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement move within this material world, but because their senses are fully engaged in the service of the Lord, they are always aloof from the material world. They are always living in a transcendental position.
TEXT 18
यः षट् सपत्नान् विजिगीषमाणो गृहेषु निर्विश्य यतेत पूर्वम् । अत्येति दुर्गाश्रित ऊर्जितारीन् क्षीणेषु कामं विचरेद्विपश्चित् ॥१८॥
yaḥ ṣaṭ sapatnān vijigīṣamāṇo gṛheṣu nirviśya yateta pūrvam atyeti durgāśrita ūrjitārīn kṣīṇeṣu kāmaṁ vicared vipaścit
yaḥ—anyone who; ṣaṭ—six; sapatnān—adversaries; vi- jigīṣamāṇaḥ—desiring to conquer; gṛheṣu—in household life; nir-