344 Krsna, the Supreme Personality of Godhead

and emperors accept the life of austerity to forget the royal condition of
life, but by Your special causeless mercy I have already been bereft of the
royal condition. Other kings exert themselves to get out of the attachment
of kingdom and family by acceptance of the hardships of renunciation,
but by Your mercy I do not need to become a mendicant or to practice
renunciation.

“My dear Lord, I therefore pray that I may simply be engaged in
rendering transcendental loving service unto Your lotus feet, which is the
ambition of the pure devotees who are freed from all kinds of material
contamination. You are the Supreme Personality of Godhead, and You
can offer me anything I want, including liberation. But who is such a
foolish person that after pleasing You he would ask from You something
which might be the cause of entanglement in this material world? I do not
think any sane man would ask such a benediction from You. I therefore
surrender unto You because You are the Supreme Personality of Godhead,
You are the Supersoul living in everyone’s heart, and You are the imper-
sonal Brahman effulgence. Moreover, You are also this material world,
because this material world is only the manifestation of Your external
energy. Therefore, from any angle of vision, You are the supreme shelter
for everyone. Everyone, either in the material plane or in the spiritual
plane, must take shelter under Your lotus feet. I therefore submit unto
You, my Lord. For many, many births I have been suffering from the
threefold miseries of this material existence, and I am now tired of it. I
have simply been impelled by my senses, and I was never satisfied. I
therefore take shelter of Your lotus feet, which are the source of all
peaceful conditions of life and which can eradicate all kinds of lamentation
caused by material contamination. My dear Lord, You are the Supersoul of
everyone, and You can understand everything. Now I am free from all
contamination of material desire. I do not wish to enjoy this material
world, nor do I wish to take advantage of merging into Your spiritual
effulgence, nor do I wish to meditate upon Your localized aspect of
Paramatma, for I know that simply by taking shelter of You, I shall become
completely peaceful and undisturbed.”

On hearing this statement of King Mucukunda, Lord Krsna replied, “My
dear King, I am very much pleased with your statement. You have been
the King of all the lands on this planet, but I am surprised to find that
your mind is now freed from all material contamination. You are now fit
to execute devotional service. I am most pleased to see that although I
offered you the opportunity of asking from Me any kind of benediction,
you did not take advantage of asking for material benefit. I can understand
