TEXT 16
punas ca bhuyad bhagavaty anante
ratih prasangas ca tad-asrayesu
mahatsu yam yam upayami srstim
maitry astu sarvatra namo dvijebhyah
SYNONYMS
punahagain; caand; bhuyatlet it be; bhagavatiunto Lord Sri Krsna; anantewho has unlimited potency; ratihattracting; prasangahassociation; caalso; tatHis; asrayesuwith those who are His devotees; mahatsuwithin the material creation; yam yamwherever; upayamiI may take; srstimmy birth; maitrifriendly relation; astulet it be; sarvatraeverywhere; namahmy obeisances; dvijebhyahunto the brahmanas.
TRANSLATION
Again, offering obeisances unto all you brahmanas, I pray that if I should again take my birth in the material world I will have complete attachment to the unlimited Lord Krsna, association with His devotees and friendly relations with all living beings.
PURPORT
That a devotee of the Lord is the only perfect living being is explained herein by Maharaja Pariksit. A devotee of the Lord is no one's enemy, although there may be many enemies of a devotee. A devotee of the Lord does not like to associate with nondevotees, although he has no enmity with them. He desires association with the devotees of the Lord. This is perfectly natural because birds of the same feather mix together. And the most important function of a devotee is to have complete attachment for Lord Sri Krsna, the father of all living beings. As a good son of the father behaves in a friendly way with all his other brothers, so also the devotee of the Lord, being a good son of the supreme father, Lord Krsna, sees all other living beings in relation with the supreme father. He tries to bring back the upstart sons of the father to a saner stage and to get them to accept the supreme fatherhood of God. Maharaja Pariksit was certainly going back to Godhead, but even if he were not to go back, he prayed for a pattern of life which is the most perfect way in the material world. A pure devotee does not desire the company of a personality as great as Brahma, but he prefers the association of a petty living being, provided he is a devotee of the Lord.

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