Shloka 36
Pṛthu Mahārāja’s Homecoming, Sacrificial Assembly, and Instruction on Devotional Kingship
अहो ममामी वितरन्त्यनुग्रहं हरिं गुरुं यज्ञभुजामधीश्वरम् । स्वधर्मयोगेन यजन्ति मामका निरन्तरं क्षोणितले दृढव्रता: ॥ ३६ ॥
aho mamāmī vitaranty anugrahaṁ hariṁ guruṁ yajña-bhujām adhīśvaram sva-dharma-yogena yajanti māmakā nirantaraṁ kṣoṇi-tale dṛḍha-vratāḥ
How wondrous! Śrī Hari is the supreme spiritual master, the Lord and enjoyer of the results of all sacrifices. O my citizens, upon this earth you steadfastly worship Him without interruption through the performance of your own prescribed duties; by this you bestow mercy upon me. Therefore I offer you my heartfelt thanks.
Mahārāja Pṛthu’s advice to his citizens to take to devotional service is now concluded in two ways. He has repeatedly advised persons who are neophytes to engage themselves in devotional service according to the capacities of the different orders of social and spiritual life, but here he specifically thanks those already engaged in such devotional service to the Supreme Personality of Godhead, who is actually the enjoyer of all sacrificial ceremonies and who is also the supreme teacher as antaryāmī, or Paramātmā. There is specific mention of the word gurum, which indicates the Supreme Personality as caitya-guru. The Supreme Godhead in His Paramātmā feature is present in everyone’s heart, and He is always trying to induce the individual soul to surrender unto Him and to engage in devotional service; therefore He is the original spiritual master. He manifests Himself as spiritual master both internally and externally to help the conditioned soul both ways. Therefore He has been mentioned herein as gurum. It appears, however, that in the time of Mahārāja Pṛthu all the people on the surface of the globe were his subjects. Most of them — in fact, almost all of them — were engaged in devotional service. Therefore he thanked them in a humble way for engaging in devotional service and thus bestowing their mercy upon him. In other words, in a state where the citizens and the head of state are engaged in devotional service unto the Supreme Personality of Godhead, they help one another and are mutually benefited.
FAQs
This verse teaches that Hari can be worshiped by sincerely performing one’s prescribed duties (svadharma-yoga), done steadily and continuously, as an offering to the Lord who is the true enjoyer of sacrifice.
Because by their steadfast performance of dharma as worship of Hari, the citizens strengthen the kingdom and spiritually benefit their king; Pṛthu views their righteous, God-centered living as a favor to him.
Do your responsibilities—family, work, service, and ethics—with steadiness and integrity, offering the results to Hari, treating daily duty as worship rather than mere obligation.