1060 Srimad-Bhagavatam [Canto 4, Ch. 24

atha—therefore; bhagavatah—devotees; yiyam—all of you; priyah—very
dear to me; stha—you are; bhagavan—the Supreme Personality of Godhead;
yatha—as; na—neither; mat—than me; bhagavatanam—of the devotees; ca—
also; preyan—very dear; anyah—others; asti—there is; karhicit—at any time.

TRANSLATION

You are all devotees of the Lord, and as such I appreciate that you are
as respectable as the Supreme Personality of Godhead Himself. I know in
this way that the devotees also respect me and that I am dear to them.
Thus no one can be as dear to the devotees as I am.

PURPORT

It is said (vaisnavanam yatha sambhuh) that Lord Siva is the best of all
devotees; therefore all devotees of Lord Krgna are also devotees of Lord
Siva. In Vrndavana there is Lord Siva’s temple called Gopisvara. The gopis
used to worship not only Lord Siva but Katyayant or Burga as well, but
their aim was to attain the favor of Lord Krsna. A devotee of Lord Krsna
does not disrespect Lord Siva but worships Lord Siva as the most exalted
devotee of Lord Krsna. Consequently whenever a devotee worships Lord
Siva, he prays to him to achieve the favor of Krsna, and he does not request
material profit. In Bhagavad-gita it is said that generally people worship
demigods for some material profit. Kamais tais tair hrtajianah (Bg. 7.20).
Driven by material lust, they worship demigods, but a devotee never does
so, for he is never driven by material lust. That is the difference between
a devotee’s respect for Lord Siva and an asura’s respect for him. The
asura worships Lord Siva, takes some benediction from him, misuses the
benediction and ultimately is killed by the Supreme Personality of God-
head, who awards him liberation.

Because Lord Siva is a great devotee of the Supreme Personality of
Godhead, he loves all the devotees of the Supreme Lord. Lord Siva told
the Pracetas that because they were devotees of the Lord, he loved them
very much. Lord Siva was not only kind and merciful to the Pracetas; any-
one who is a devotee of the Supreme Personality of Godhead is very dear
to Lord Siva. Not only are the devotees dear to Lord Siva, but he respects
them as much as he respects the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Simi-
larly, devotees of the Supreme Lord also worship Lord Siva as the most
dear devotee of Lord Krspa. They do not worship him as a separate Per-
sonality of Godhead. It is stated in the list of ndma-aparadhas that it is an
offense to think that the chanting of the name of Hari and the chanting of
Hara or Siva are the same. The devotees must always know that Lord Visnu
is the Supreme Personality of Godhead and that Lord Siva is His devotee.
