SB 7.9.50 The resolution to engage in devotional service with the implicit prayer for aid in keeping that resolution is the conclusive prayer

Transcript

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Thank you. त्वई विने तिशडं जया किम् भक्तिं जना परमः सगता विला भेता So, here, this is the last prayer Prahlada Maharaj is offering. And, in this prayer, he is glorifying the Lord and is especially glorifying devotional service to the Lord.
So, in the previous verses, he has said about how the Lord is everything in the sense that he pervades, yet transcends everything. That was 48. In 49, he says that as compared to the devotional service of the Lord, karmakarna rituals for material religiosity are useless and wise people give up everything material.
So, now he says, therefore, my dear Lord, I will worship you with the process of devotional service. So, he describes various processes. स्विति श्रवणम् तथायाम् स्विति श्रवणम् के इतना विष्णो स्मरणम् which Prahlada Maharaj has talked about earlier while telling Hiranyakashyapu about Lord Vishnu and devotional service to him.
So, he is saying, Anathama, my dear Lord, you are the most worshipful, you are most worthy of worship because you are the eternal object of love and in loving you, a person attains eternal happiness. So, नमः स्थुति कर्म पूजा So, he says, my dear Lord, I will worship you in various ways. I will praise you.
I will do various devotional activities for you. स्थुति कर्म पूजा So, the first word karma in this compound, स्थुति कर्म पूजा refers to the activities of devotional service and कर्म refers to other activities that one may have to do. He says, even those I will offer to you.
And he says, So, like this, there are various limbs of devotional service. If one doesn’t serve you with those limbs, then how can one get that which is got by the Paramahamsas? So, how can one get the गति that the Paramahamsas has got? So, Prahlad Maharaj remembers his spiritual master Narad Muni and how Narad Muni is constantly doing these activities. नमः स्थुति कर्म पूजा कर्मस्मति चरणयू श्रवण कथाया Narad Muni goes all around the universe chanting the glories of the Lord and doing the will of the Lord and participating in his pastimes, accelerating those pastimes, making them more exciting and relishing those pastimes.
So, he is saying, Prahlad Maharaj is saying, I want to do something similar, my dear Lord. By the power of devotional service, Narad Muni has become liberated even in this world itself. परमः स्थुति कर्मस्मति चरणयू श्रणयू श्रवण So, that गति can be obtained by following in his footsteps.
So, here we see that Prahlad Maharaj doesn’t conclude with any prayer with a specific request, my dear Lord, give me this or give me that. He says, my dear Lord, I will render devotional service to you. So, the expression of this determination includes the prayer that my dear Lord, please enable me to engage in this service.
But this determination, this resolution to engage in devotional service is indicative of both the conviction in devotional service that Prahlad Maharaj has and also the commitment that he is ready to make to that devotional service. So, often we have our own prayers to Krishna. But the best prayer that we can offer to Krishna is demonstrated here by Prahlad Maharaj.
It is an expression of our commitment to engage in this devotional service and implicit in that commitment is the fervent plea that my dear Lord, please give me the strength to strengthen that commitment. So, Prahlad Maharaj here offers lofty prayers of devotion and concludes with another lofty expression of devotion, that is, the intention to determinately keep engaging in devotional service forever and ever. This is a mood that can keep us also forever engaged, absorbed and satisfied in the service of the Lord.
This also illustrates the very nature of the human-divine relationship that the divine can bless the human only when the human is determined. Prabhupada writes that if we are not determined to render devotional service, then even the Supreme Personality of Godhead cannot help us. So, our determination empowers Krishna to help us and we seek Krishna’s empowerment to preserve our determination.
That is the wonderful dynamism of bhakti.