192 Srimad-Bhagavatam [Canto 6, Ch. 17

§ri-rudra uvaca
drstavaty asi susroni
harer adbhuta-karmanah
mahatmyam bhrtya-bhrtyanam
nihsprhanam mahatmanam

Sri-rudrah uvaca—Lord Siva said; drstavati asi—have you seen; su-
Sroni—O beautiful Parvati; hareh—of the Supreme Personality of God-
head; adbhuta-karmanah—whose acts are wonderful; mahatmyam—
the greatness; bhrtya-bhrtyanam—of the servants of the servants;
nihsprhanam—who are without ambitions for sense gratification;
mahatmanam—great souls.

TRANSLATION

Lord Siva said: My dear beautiful Parvati, have you seen the
greatness of the Vaisnavas? Being servants of the servants of the
Supreme Personality of Godhead, Hari, they are great souls and
are not interested in any kind of material happiness.

PURPORT

Lord Siva, the husband of Parvati, told his wife, “My dear Parvati,
you are very beautiful in your bodily features. Certainly you are
glorious. But I do not think that you can compete with the beauty and
glory of devotees who have become servants of the servants of the
Supreme Personality of Godhead.” Of course, Lord Siva smiled when he
joked with his wife in that way, for others cannot speak like that. “The
Supreme Lord,” Siva continued, “‘is always exalted in His activities, and
here is another example of His wonderful influence upon King
Citraketu, His devotee. Just see, although you cursed the King, he was
not at all afraid or sorry. Rather, he offered respect to you, called you
mother and accepted your curse, thinking himself faulty. He did not say
anything in retaliation. This is the excellence of a devotee. By mildly
tolerating your curse, he has certainly excelled the glory of your beauty
and your power to curse him. I can impartially judge that this devotee,
Citraketu, has defeated you and your excellence simply by becoming a
pure devotee of the Lord.” As stated by Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu, taror
