350 Srimad-Bhagavatam [Canto 5, Ch. 10

master; tatra—in this; kim—who; isitavyam—is to be controlled;
tathapi—nevertheless; rajan—O King (if you still think that you are
master and I am servant); karavama—I may do; kim—what; te—
for you.

TRANSLATION
My dear King, if you still think that you are the King and that I

am your servant, you should order me, and I should follow your
order. I can then say that this differentiation is temporary, and it
expands only from usage or convention. I do not see any other
cause. In that case, who is the master, and who is the servant?
Everyone is being forced by the laws of material nature; therefore
no one is master, and no one is servant. Nonetheless, if you think
that you are the master and that I am the servant, I shall accept this.
Please order me. What can I do for you?

PURPORT

It is said in Srimad-Bhagavatam, aham maémeti: One thinks, ‘‘I am
this body, and in this bodily relationship he is my master, he is my ser-
vant, she is my wife, and he is my son.” All these conceptions are tem-
porary due to the inevitable change of body and the arrangement of
material nature. We are gathered together like straws floating in the
waves of an ocean, straws that are inevitably separated by the laws of the
waves. In this material world, everyone is floating on the waves of the
ocean of nescience. As described by Bhaktivinoda Thakura:

(miche) mayara vase, Gccha bhese’,
Ly y
khaccha habudubu, bhai
(jiva) krsna-dasa, e visvdsa,

karle ta’ ara duhkha nai

Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura states that all men and women are floating
like straws on the waves of material nature. If they come to the under-
standing that they are the eternal servants of Krsna, they will put an end
to this floating condition. As stated in Bhagavad-gita (3.37): kama esa
krodha esa rajoguna-samudbhavah. Due to the mode of passion, we
desire many things, and according to our desire or anxiety and according
