246
Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam
[Canto 8, Ch. 24]
worship of the lotus feet of Hari, even if this means giving up the so-called occupational duty assigned because of the particular body one has accepted. Because worship in terms of the body is temporary, it does not bear any permanent fruit. But worship of the Supreme Personality of Godhead gives immense benefit.
TEXT 31
श्रीशुक उवाच
इति ब्रुवाणं नृपतिं जगत्पतिः
सत्यव्रतं मत्स्यवपुर्युगक्षये ।
विहर्तुकामः प्रलयाणवेऽब्रवी-
चिकीर्षुरेकान्तजनप्रियः प्रियम् ॥३१॥
śrī-śuka uvāca
iti bruvāṇam nṛpatim jagat-patiḥ
satyavratam matsya-vapur yuga-kṣaye
vihartu-kāmaḥ pralayārṇave 'bravīc
cikīrṣur ekānta-jana-priyaḥ priyam
śrī-śukaḥ uvāca—Śrī Śukadeva Gosvāmī said; iti—thus; bruvāṇam—speaking like that; nṛpatim—unto the King; jagat-patiḥ—the master of the entire universe; satyavratam—unto Satyavrata; matsya-vapuḥ—the Lord, who had assumed the form of a fish; yuga-kṣaye—at the end of a yuga; vihartu-kāmaḥ—to enjoy His own pastimes; pralaya-arṇave—in the water of inundation; abravīt—said; cikīrṣuḥ—desiring to do; ekānta-jana-priyaḥ—most beloved by the devotees; priyam—something very beneficial.
TRANSLATION
Śukadeva Gosvāmī said: When King Satyavrata spoke in this way, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, who at the end of the yuga had assumed the form of a fish to benefit His devotee and enjoy His pastimes in the water of inundation, responded as follows.