220 Srimad-Bhagavatam [Canto 7, Ch. 9

icchami—I want; te—by You; vilulitan—subject to be finished; uru-
vikramena—who are extremely powerful; kadla-dtmand—as the master
of the time factor; upanaya—kindly take to; mam—me; nija-bhrtya-
parsvam—the association of Your faithful servant, Your devotee.

TRANSLATION

My dear Lord, now I have complete experience concerning the
worldly opulence, mystic power, longevity and other material
pleasures enjoyed by all living entities, from Lord Brahma down to
the ant. As powerful time, You destroy them all. Therefore, be-
cause of my experience, I do not wish to possess them. My dear
Lord, I request You to place me in touch with Your pure devotee
and let me serve him as a sincere servant.

PURPORT

By studying Srimad-Bhagavatam, every intelligent man can get ex-
perience like that of Prahlada Maharaja through the historical incidents
mentioned in this great literature of spiritual knowledge. By following in
the footsteps of Prahlada Maharaja, one should gain thorough experience
that all material opulence is perishable at every moment. Even this body,
for which we try to acquire so many sensual pleasures, may perish at any
time. The soul, however, is eternal. Na hanyate hanyaméne Sarire:
the soul is never vanquished, even when the body is destroyed. An intel-
ligent man, therefore, should care for the happiness of the spirit soul,
not of the body. Even if one receives a body with a long duration of life,
like those of Lord Brahma and the other great demigods, it will also be
destroyed, and therefore an intelligent man should be concerned with the
imperishable spirit soul.

To save oneself, one must take shelter of a pure devotee. Narottama
dasa Thakura therefore says, chddiyd vaisnava-seva nistdra pdyeche
keba. If one wants to save himself from material nature’s onslaughts,
which arise because of the material body, one must become Krsna con-
scious and try to fully understand Krsna. As stated in Bhagavad-gita
(4.9), janma karma ca me divyam evar yo vetti tattvatah. One should
understand Krsna in truth, and this one can do only by serving a pure
devotee. Thus Prahlada Maharaja prays that Lord Nrsirbhadeva place
