Text 154] Sarvabhauma Bhattacarya Offers Prasdda to the Lord 79

TRANSLATION

“1 said to him, ‘All glories to you, Murari Gupta! Your method of worship is
very firmly fixed—so much so that even upon My request your mind did not
turn.

TEXT 154

Ras Grace Afs vile eig-o1rz |
AS QBS, AF BIGIA AI TAH S¢8 4

ei-mata sevakera priti cahi prabhu-paya
prabhu chadaileha, pada chadana na yaya

SYNONYMS

ei-mata—like this; sevakera—of the servitor; priti—love; cahi—is wanted;
prabhu-paya—unto the lotus feet of the Lord; prabhu chadaileha—even though
the Lord causes separation; pada—the lotus feet of the Lord; chadana na yaya—
cannot be given up.

TRANSLATION

“‘ ‘The servitor must have love and affection for the lotus feet of the Lord ex-
actly like this. Even if the Lord wants separation, a devotee cannot abandon
the shelter of His lotus feet.

PURPORT

The word prabhu, or master, indicates that the Lord is to be continuously
served by His devotee. The original prabhu is the Lord, Sri Krsna. Nonetheless,
there are many devotees attached to Lord Ramacandra, and Murari Gupta is a
vivid example of such unalloyed devotion. He never agreed to give up Lord Rama-
candra’s worship, not even upon $ri Caitanya Mahaprabhu’s request. Such is the
chastity of devotional service, as stated in the Antya-lila of Caitanya-caritamrta
(4.46-47):

sei bhakta dhanya, ye na chade prabhura carana
sei prabhu dhanya, ye na chade nija-jana

durdaive sevaka yadi yaya anya sthane
sei thakura dhanya tare cule dhari’ ane

In a firm relationship with the Lord, the devotee does not give up the Lord’s ser-
vice under any circumstance. As far as the Lord Himself is concerned, if the devo-
tee chooses to leave, the Lord brings him back again, dragging him by the hair.
