Srimad-Bhagavatam: Canto 3 - Chapter 1 - Verse 7


Sanskrit:

यत्सेवया चरणपद्मपवित्ररेणुंसद्य:क्षताखिलमलं प्रतिलब्धशीलम् ।न श्रीर्विरक्तमपि मां विजहाति यस्या:प्रेक्षालवार्थ इतरे नियमान् वहन्ति ॥ ७ ॥

ITRANS:

yat-sevayā caraṇa-padma-pavitra-reṇuṁsadyaḥ kṣatākhila-malaṁ pratilabdha-śīlamna śrīr viraktam api māṁ vijahāti yasyāḥprekṣā-lavārtha itare niyamān vahanti

Translation:

The Lord continued: Because I am the servitor of My devotees, My lotus feet have become so sacred that they immediately wipe out all sin and I have acquired such a disposition that the goddess of fortune does not leave Me, even though I have no attachment for her, while others praise her beauty and observe sacred vows to secure from her even a slight favor.

Purport:

The relationship between the Lord and His devotee is transcendentally beautiful. As the devotee thinks that it is due to being a devotee of the Lord that he is elevated in all good qualities, so the Lord also thinks that it is because of His devotion to the servitor that all His transcendental glories have increased. In other words, as the devotee is always anxious to render service to the Lord, so the Lord is ever anxious to render service to the devotee. The Lord admits herein that although He certainly has the quality that anyone who receives a slight particle of the dust of His lotus feet becomes at once a great personality, this greatness is due to His affection for His devotee. It is because of this affection that the goddess of fortune does not leave Him and that not only one but many thousands of goddesses of fortune engage in His service. In the material world, simply to get a little favor from the goddess of fortune, people observe many rigid regulations of austerity and penance. The Lord cannot tolerate any inconvenience on the part of the devotee. He is therefore famous as bhakta-vatsala.