Text 42] Prayers by Queen Kunti 425

A pure devotee cuts off the limited ties of affection for his family and
widens his activities of devotional service for all forgotten souls. The
typical example is the band of six Gosvamis who followed the path of
Lord Caitanya. All of them belonged to the most enlightened and cul-
tured rich famities of the higher castes, but for the benefit of the mass of
population they left their comfortable homes and became mendicants. To
cut off all family affection means to broaden the field of activities. With-
out doing this, no one can be qualified as a brahmana, a king, a public
leader or a devotee of the Lord. The Personality of Godhead, as an ideal
King, showed this by example. Sri Ramacandra cut off the tie of affection
of His beloved wife to manifest the qualities of an ideal king.

Such personalities as a brahmana, a devotee, a king or a public leader
must be very broadminded in discharging respective duties. Weak as she
was, Srimati Kuntidevi was conscious of this fact, and she prayed to be
free from such bondage of family affection. The Lord is addressed as the
Lord of the universe, or the Lord of the universal mind, indicating His all-
powerful ability to cut the hard knot of family affection. Therefore, it is
sometimes experienced that the Lord, out of His special affinity towards a
weak devotee. breaks the family affection by force of circumstances by His
all-powerful energy. By doing so He causes the devotee to become com-
pletely dependent on Him and thus clears up the path for his going back to
Godhead.

TEXT 42
~ N
cata asqaatar afatyTasaad |
a
TeaRETRA TRATERAA [eR
tvayi me ’nanya-visaya
matir madhu-pate ’sakrt
ratim udvahatad addha
gangevaugham udanvati

tvayi—unto You; me—my; ananya-visaya—unalloyed; matih—attention;
madhu-pate—O Lord of Madhu; asakrt—continually; ratim—attraction;
udvahatat—may overflow; addha—directly; ganga—the Ganges; iva—like;
ogham—flows; udanvati—down to the seas.
