Text 9]
The Dynasty of Mahārāja Nimi
157
PURPORT
Mahārāja Nimi did not want to accept a material body, which would be a cause of bondage; because he was a devotee, he wanted a body by which he could render devotional service to the Lord. Śrīla Bhaktivinoda Thākura sings:
janmāobi more icchā yadi tora bhakta-gṛhe jani janma ha-u mora kīṭa-janma ha-u yathā tuyā dāsa
“My Lord, if You want me to take birth and accept a material body again, kindly do me this favor: allow me to take birth in the home of Your servant, Your devotee. I do not mind being born there even as an insignificant creature like an insect.” Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu also said:
na dhanaṁ na janaṁ na sundarīṁ kavitāṁ vā jagadīśa kāmaye mama janmani janmanīśvare bhavatād bhaktir ahaitukī tvayi
“O Lord of the universe, I do not desire material wealth, materialistic followers, a beautiful wife or fruitive activities described in flowery language. All I want, life after life, is unmotivated devotional service to You.” (Śikṣāṣṭaka 4) By saying “life after life” ( janmani janmani ), the Lord referred not to an ordinary birth but a birth in which to remember the lotus feet of the Lord. Such a body is desirable. A devotee does not think like  yogīs  and  jñānīs , who want to refuse a material body and become one with the impersonal Brahman effulgence. A devotee does not like this idea. On the contrary, he will accept any body, material or spiritual, for he wants to serve the Lord. This is real liberation.
If one has a strong desire to serve the Lord, even if he accepts a material body, there is no cause of anxiety, since a devotee, even in a material body, is a liberated soul. This is confirmed by Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī:
ihā yasya harer dāsye karmaṇā manasā girā nikhilāsv apy avasthāsu jīvan-muktaḥ sa ucyate