Shloka 31
Lord Viṣṇu Instructs Pṛthu: Forgiveness, Ātmā-Deha Viveka, and the Bhakti Ideal of Kingship
त्वन्माययाद्धा जन ईश खण्डितो यदन्यदाशास्त ऋतात्मनोऽबुध: । यथा चरेद् बालहितं पिता स्वयं तथा त्वमेवार्हसि न: समीहितुम् ॥ ३१ ॥
tvan-māyayāddhā jana īśa khaṇḍito yad anyad āśāsta ṛtātmano ’budhaḥ yathā cared bāla-hitaṁ pitā svayaṁ tathā tvam evārhasi naḥ samīhitum
My Lord, by Your māyā the living beings forget their true position and, in ignorance, hanker for other material happiness. As a father acts for a child’s welfare without waiting to be asked, so please bestow upon me whatever You know to be best for me.
It is the duty of the son to depend upon his father without asking anything from him. The good son has faith that the father knows best how to benefit him. Similarly, a pure devotee does not ask anything from the Lord for material benefit. Nor does he ask anything for spiritual benefit. The pure devotee is fully surrendered unto the lotus feet of the Lord, and the Lord takes charge of him, as stated in Bhagavad-gītā (18.66) : ahaṁ tvāṁ sarva-pāpebhyo mokṣayiṣyāmi. The father knows the necessities of the son and supplies them, and the Supreme Lord knows the necessities of the living entities and supplies them sumptuously. Therefore the Īśopaniṣad states that everything in this material world is complete ( pūrṇam idam ). The difficulty is that due to forgetfulness the living entities create unnecessary demands and entangle themselves in material activities. The result is that there is no end to material activities, life after life.
FAQs
This verse says that by the Lord’s māyā people become confused and, despite the Lord being the ultimate Truth, the ignorant mind imagines and asserts “something else” as reality.
Pṛthu is expressing surrender: just as a father naturally acts for the child’s real benefit, the Lord alone knows and can arrange the true welfare of the soul beyond mistaken desires.
Use it as a principle of surrender: recognize the limits of your perception, pray for what is truly beneficial, and align decisions with dharma and devotion rather than impulse or illusion.