Text 49]
Prahlāda Pacifies the Lord with Prayers
269
Tatra tiṣṭhāmi nārada yatra gāyanti mad-bhaktāḥ:  the Supreme Lord stays only where His devotees chant His glories.
TEXT 49
नैते गुणा न गुणिनो महदादयो ये
सर्वे मनःप्रभृतयः सहदेवमत्याः ।
आद्यन्तवन्त उरुगाय विदन्ति हि त्वा-
मेवं विमृश्य सुधियो विरमन्ति शब्दात्॥४९॥
naite guṇā na guṇino mahad-ādayo ye sarve manaḥ prabhṛtayaḥ sahadeva-martyāḥ ādy-antavanta urugāya vidanti hi tvām evam vimṛśya sudhiyo viramanti śabdāt
na —neither;  ete —all these;  guṇāḥ —three qualities of material nature;  na —nor;  guṇinaḥ —the predominating deities of the three modes of material nature (namely Lord Brahmā, the predominating deity of passion, and Lord Śiva, the predominating deity of ignorance);  mahat-ādayaḥ —the five elements, the senses and the sense objects;  ye —those which;  sarve —all;  manaḥ —the mind;  prabhṛtayaḥ —and so on;  saha-deva-martyāḥ —with the demigods and the mortal human beings;  ādi-anta-vantaḥ —who all have a beginning and end;  urugāya —O Supreme Lord, who are glorified by all saintly persons;  vidanti —understand;  hi —indeed;  tvām —Your Lordship;  evam —thus;  vimṛśya —considering;  sudhiyaḥ —all wise men;  viramanti —cease;  śabdāt —from studying or understanding the  Vedas .
TRANSLATION
Neither the three modes of material nature [sattva-guṇa, rajo-guṇa and tamo-guṇa], nor the predominating deities controlling these three modes, nor the five gross elements, nor the mind, nor the demigods nor the human beings can understand Your Lordship, for they are all subjected to birth and annihilation. Considering this, the spiritually advanced have taken to devotional service. Such wise men hardly bother with Vedic study. Instead, they engage themselves in practical devotional service.