TEXT 12
te na smaranty atitaram priyam isa martyam
ye canv adah suta-suhrd-grha-vitta-darah
ye tv abja-nabha bhavadiya-padaravinda-
saugandhya-lubdha-hrdayesu krta-prasangah
SYNONYMS
tethey; nanever; smarantiremember; atitaramhighly; priyamdear; isaO Lord; martyammaterial body; yethey who; caalso; anuin relationship with; adahthat; sutasons; suhrtfriends; grhahome; vittawealth; darahand wife; yethose who; tuthen; abja-nabhaO Lord who have a lotus navel; bhavadiyaof Your; pada-aravindalotus feet; saugandhyathe fragrance; lubdhahave achieved; hrdayesuwith devotees whose hearts; krta-prasangahhave association.
TRANSLATION
O Lord who have a lotus navel, if a person happens to associate with a devotee whose heart always hankers after Your lotus feet, seeking always their fragrance, he is never attached to the material body or, in a bodily relationship, to offspring, friends, home, wealth and wife, which are very, very dear to materialistic persons. Indeed, he does not care for them.
PURPORT
A special advantage in devotional service is that devotees not only enjoy the transcendental pastimes of the Lord by hearing and chanting and glorifying them, but also are not very much attached to their bodies, unlike the yogis, who are too attached to the body and who think that by performing bodily gymnastic exercises they will advance in spiritual consciousness. Yogis are generally not very much interested in devotional service; they want to regulate the breathing process. This is simply a bodily concern. Here Dhruva Maharaja plainly says that a devotee has no more bodily interest. He knows that he is not the body. From the very beginning, therefore, without wasting time in bodily exercises, a devotee searches out a pure devotee and simply by his association becomes more advanced in spiritual consciousness than any yogi. Because a devotee knows that he is not the body, he is never affected by bodily happiness or distress. He is not interested in bodily relationships with wife, children, home, bank balance, etc., or in the distress and happiness which come from these things. This is the special advantage of being a devotee. This status of life is possible only when a person is interested in associating with a pure devotee, who always enjoys the fragrance of the lotus feet of the Lord.

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