Text 48] Instructions by Maharaja Prthu 879

devotees of the Lord come to this material world with full compassion to
deliver the sinful. They undergo all kinds of tribulations, suffering them
with tolerance, because that is another qualification of a Vaisnava, who
tries to deliver all sinful persons from the hellish conditions of material
existence. Vaisnavas are therefore offered the following prayer:

vaficha-kalpatarubhyas ca krpa-sindhubhya eva ca
patitanam pavanebhyo vaisnavebhyo namo namah

The chief concern of a Vaisnava is to deliver the fallen souls.
TEXT 48
died fla: PAT: TaASa ATT: |
TAIT af: aaatewrae lect

vira-varya pitah prthvyah
samah sajijiva sasvatih

yasyedrsy acyute bhaktih
sarva-lokaika-bhartari

vira-varya—the best of the warriors; pitah—the father; prthvyah—of the
globe; samah—equal to in years; safijiva—live; sasvatih—forever; yasya—
whose; idrsi—like this; acyute—unto the Supreme; bhaktih—devotion;
sarva—all; loka—planets; eka— one; bhartari— maintainer.

TRANSLATION

All the saintly brahmanas thus addressed Prthu Maharaja: O best of the
warriors, O father of this globe, may you be blessed with a long life, for you
have great devotion to the infallible Supreme Personality of Godhead, who
is the master of all the universe.

PURPORT

Prthu Maharaja was blessed by the saintly persons present at the meeting
to have a long life because of his unflinching faith and his devotion to the
Supreme Personality of Godhead. Although one’s duration of life is limited
in years, if by chance one becomes a devotee, he surpasses the duration pre-
scribed for his life; indeed, sometimes yogis die according to their wish,
not according to the laws of material nature. Another feature of a devotee
is that he lives forever because of his infallible devotion to the Lord. It is
said, kirtir yasya sa jivati: ‘“®ne who leaves a good reputation behind him
