समृद्धकामोहीनो वा नारायणपरो मुनि: । नोत्सर्पेत न शुष्येत सरिद्भिरिव सागर: ॥ ६ ॥
samṛddha-kāmo hīno vā nārāyaṇa-paro muniḥ notsarpeta na śuṣyeta saridbhir iva sāgaraḥ
- samṛddha
- flourishing
- kāmaḥ
- material opulence
- hīnaḥ
- destitute
- vā
- or
- nārāyaṇa
- the Supreme Personality of Godhead
- paraḥ
- accepting as supreme
- muniḥ
- a saintly devotee
- na
- does not
- utsarpeta
- swell up
- na
- does not
- śuṣyeta
- dry up
- saridbhiḥ
- by the rivers
- iva
- like
- sāgaraḥ
- the ocean
During the rainy season the swollen rivers rush into the ocean, and during the dry summer the rivers, now shallow, severely reduce their supply of water; yet the ocean does not swell up during the rainy season, nor does it dry up in the hot summer. In the same way, a saintly devotee who has accepted the Supreme Personality of Godhead as the goal of his life sometimes will receive by providence great material opulence, and sometimes he will find himself materially destitute. However, such a devotee of the Lord does not rejoice in a flourishing condition, nor is he morose when poverty-stricken.