1042 Srimad-Bhagavatam [Canto 3, Ch. 25 ©
ASMA AMAA ATT
aasaa aA Tei eet
naikatmatam me sprhayanti kecin-
mat-pada-sevabhirata mad-ihah
ye ‘nyonyato bhagavatah prasajya
sabhajayante mama paurusani
na—never; eka-atmatam—merging into oneness; me—My; sprhayanti—
they desire; kecit—any; mat-pdda-seva—the service of My lotus feet;
abhiratah—engaged in; mat-ihah—endeavoring to attain Me; ye—those who;
anyonyatah—mutually; bhdgavatah—pure devotees; prasajya—assembling;
sabhajayante—glorify; mama—My; paurusani—glorious activities.
TRANSLATION
A pure devotee who is attached to the activities of devotional service
and who always engages in the service of My lotus feet never desires to
become one with Me. Such a devotee, who is unflinchingly engaged, always
glorifies My pastimes and activities.
PURPORT
There are five kinds of liberation stated in the scriptures. One is to
become one with the Supreme Personality of Godhead or to forsake one’s
individuality and merge into the Supreme Spirit. This is called ekatmatam.
A devotee never accepts this kind of liberation. The other four liberations
are to be promoted to the same planet as God, Vaikuntha, to associate
personally with the Supreme Lord, to achieve the same opulence as the
Lord and to attain the same bodily features as the Supreme Lord. A pure
devotee, as will be explained by Kapila Muni, does not aspire for any of the
five liberations. He especially despises as hellish becoming one with the
Supreme Personality of Godhead. Sri Prabodhananda Sarasvati, a great
devotee of Lord Caitanya, said kaivalyam narakayate: ‘‘The happiness of
becoming one with the Supreme Lord, which is aspired to by the
Mayavadis, is considered to be hellish.” That oneness is not for pure
devotees.
There are many so-called devotees who think that in the conditioned
state we may worship the Personality of Godhead, but ultimately there is
no personality; they say that since the Absolute Truth is impersonal, one
