166
Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam
[Canto 6, Ch. 17]
When Citraketu spoke in this way, all the members in the great assembly in which Lord Śiva and Pārvatī were present were astonished. Then Lord Śiva began speaking about the devotees of the Lord. A devotee is neutral in all conditions of life, whether in the heavenly planets or hellish planets, whether liberated from the material world or conditioned by it, and whether blessed with happiness or subjected to distress. These are all merely dualities created by the external energy. Being influenced by the external energy, the living entity accepts a gross and subtle material body, and in this illusory position he apparently suffers miseries, although everyone is part and parcel of the Supreme Lord. The so-called demigods consider themselves independent lords, and in this way they are misled from understanding that all living entities are part of the Supreme. This chapter concludes by glorifying the devotee and the Supreme Personality of Godhead.
TEXT 1
श्रीशुक उवाच
यतश्चान्तर्हितोऽनन्तस्तस्यै कृत्वा दिशे नमः। विद्याधरश्चित्रकेतुश्चचार गगनेचरः ॥ १ ॥
śrī-śuka uvāca yataś cāntarhito 'nantas tasyai kṛtvā diśe namaḥ vidyādharaś citraketuś cacāra gagane caraḥ
śrī-śukaḥ uvāca—Śrī Śukadeva Gosvāmī said; yataḥ—in which (direction); ca—and; antarhitaḥ—disappeared; anantaḥ—the unlimited Supreme Personality of Godhead; tasyai—unto that; kṛtvā—after offering; diśe—direction; namaḥ—obeisances; vidyādharaḥ—the King of the Vidyādhara planet; citraketuḥ—Citraketu; cacāra—traveled; gagane—in outer space; caraḥ—moving.
TRANSLATION
Śrīla Śukadeva Gosvāmī said: After offering obeisances to the direction from which Ananta, the Supreme Personality of God-