sri-uddhava uvaca

sadhus tavottama-sloka

 matah kidrg-vidhah prabho

bhaktis tvayy upayujyeta

 kidrsi sadbhir adrta

 

etan me purusadhyaksa

 lokadhyaksa jagat-prabho

pranatayanuraktaya

 prapannaya ca kathyatam

 

Translation: 

 

Sri Uddhava said: My dear Lord, O Supreme Personality of Godhead, what type of person do You consider to be a true devotee, and what type of devotional service is approved by great devotees as worthy of being offered to Your Lordship? My dear ruler of the universal controllers, O Lord of Vaikuntha and almighty God of the universe, I am Your devotee, and because I love You I have no other shelter than You. Therefore please explain this to me.

 

Purport: 

 

In the previous verse it was stated that one can achieve the Lord’s supreme abode by associating with devotees. Therefore, Uddhava naturally inquires about the symptoms of a distinguished devotee whose association can promote one to the kingdom of God. Srila Jiva Gosvami notes that the Personality of Godhead knows who is actually a sincere devotee because the Lord is always attached to His loving servitors. Similarly, pure devotees can expertly explain the proper methods of devotional service to Lord Krsna because they are already absorbed in love of Krsna. Uddhava herein requests Lord Krsna to describe the qualities of a devotee and asks the Lord to explain the devotional service that the devotees themselves approve as worthy to be offered to the Lord.

 

Srila Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura remarks that the word purusadhyaksa indicates that Lord Krsna is the supreme ruler of the universal controllers headed by Maha-Visnu, and thus the Lord possesses infinite sovereignty. The term lokadhyaksa indicates that Lord Krsna is the ultimate supervising authority of all of the Vaikuntha planets, and therefore the Lord is unlimitedly glorious and perfect. Uddhava further addresses Lord Krsna as jagat-prabhu, because even in the illusory material world the Lord exhibits His unlimited mercy by personally incarnating to uplift the conditioned souls. The word pranataya (“Your surrendered devotee”) indicates that Uddhava is not proud like ordinary fools who do not enjoy bowing down to the Supreme Personality of Godhead. According to Srila Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura, Uddhava mentions that he is anuraktaya, or completely bound in love to Lord Krsna, because unlike other great devotees such as Arjuna, who sometimes worshiped demigods in order to comply with social customs or to show respect for their positions in the scheme of planetary management, Uddhava never worshiped any demigods. Therefore, Uddhava is prapannaya, or completely surrendered to Lord Krsna, having no other shelter.