194
Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam
[Canto 6, Ch. 17]
the Lord, and therefore they are excellent. By using the word  bhṛtya-bhṛtyānām , Lord Śiva pointed out that although Citraketu provided one example of tolerance and excellence, all the devotees who have taken shelter of the Lord as eternal servants are glorious. They have no eagerness to be happy by being placed in the heavenly planets, becoming liberated or becoming one with Brahman, the supreme effulgence. These benefits do not appeal to their minds. They are simply interested in giving direct service to the Lord.
TEXT 29
देहिनां देहसंयोगाद् द्वन्द्वानीश्वरलीलया । सुखं दुःखं मृतिर्जन्म शापोऽनुग्रह एव च ॥२९॥
dehinām deha-saṁyogād dvandvānīśvara-līlayā sukham duḥkham mṛtir janma śāpo 'nugraha eva ca
dehinām —of all those who have accepted material bodies;  deha-saṁyogāt —because of contact with the material body;  dvandvāni —dualities;  īśvara-līlayā —by the supreme will of the Lord;  sukham —happiness;  duḥkham —distress;  mṛtiḥ —death;  janma —birth;  śāpaḥ —curse;  anugrahaḥ —favor;  eva —certainly;  ca —and.
TRANSLATION
Because of the actions of the Supreme Lord's external energy, the living entities are conditioned in contact with material bodies. The dualities of happiness and distress, birth and death, curses and favors, are natural by-products of this contact in the material world.
PURPORT
In  Bhagavad-gītā  we find,  mayādhyakṣeṇa prakṛtiḥ sūyate sa-carācaram : the material world works under the direction of the goddess Durgā, the material energy of the Lord, but she acts under the direction of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. This is also confirmed in the  Brahma-saṁhitā  (5.44):