वसन्तीह दृढं भक्त्या गुरुषु द्विजसत्तमाः।
तेषामपि च मे भूयः सर्वेषां चोपजीविनाम्॥
vasantīha dṛḍhaṁ bhaktyā guruṣu dvija-sattamāḥ
teṣām api ca me bhūyaḥ sarveṣāṁ copajīvinām
vasanti = live; iha = in this city; dṛḍham = firm; bhaktyā = with devotion; guruṣu = to their gurus; dvija-sattamāḥ = the best of the brāhmaṇas; teṣām api = to them; ca = and; me = on Me; bhūyaḥ = I want to give more in charity; sarveṣām = all; ca = and; upajīvinām = who depend.
The best of the brāhmaṇas live in this city with firm devotion to their gurus and I want to give more in charity to them and all who depend on Me.
1 In bhakti-yoga, one cannot have a sinful source of income to maintain himself and his dependents. Therefore this instruction. Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura has especially stressed this in his teachings to householders practicing bhakti
Those who have firm devotion to their gurus are always engaged in service to their gurus. Lord Rāma implies, “Bring them to Me.”
NOTE. Before one enters into vānaprastha life, one should distribute his wealth in charity to qualified brāhmaṇas.
This is clear from the history of Mṛgāri, the enemy of the animals, described in Caitanya-caritāmṛta (Madhya-līlā, Chapter 24). Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu recounted this history to Śrīla Sanātana Gosvāmī.
Mṛgāri was a hunter who used to half-kill animals. By chance Śrīla Nārada Muni met him and instructed him about the great suffering he would have to undergo because of inflicting pain upon the animals. By Śrīla Nārada’s powerful association, the hunter became afraid of his sinful activities. He then requested the great sage to tell him how he could counteract all the offenses and sinful activities he had committed and surrendered unto the great ācārya’s lotus feet.
Nārada Muni first asked him to break his bow; only then would he disclose the path of liberation.1 The hunter protested that that was the source of his livelihood. Nārada Muni assured him that he would send him sufficient grains to live. The hunter did as he was told.
Then Nārada Muni instructed him to distribute whatever money and valuables he had to the brāhmaṇas and Vaiṣṇavas, taking only one cloth to wear. Śrīla Prabhupāda comments in this regard:
This is the process of renunciation at the stage of vānaprastha. After enjoying householder life for some time, the husband and wife must leave home and distribute their riches to brāhmaṇas and Vaiṣṇavas. One can keep his wife as an assistant in the vānaprastha stage. The idea is that the wife will assist the husband in spiritual advancement. Therefore Nārada Muni advised the hunter to adopt the vānaprastha stage and leave home. It is not that a gṛhastha should live at home until he dies. Vānaprastha is preliminary to sannyāsa. In the Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement there are many young couples engaged in the Lord’s service. Eventually they are supposed to take vānaprastha, and after the vānaprastha stage the husband may take sannyāsa in order to preach. The wife may then remain alone and serve the Deity or engage in other activities within the Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement.
The hunter did this and followed the other instructions of Nārada Muni: He constructed a small thatched house on the riverbank, sowed a tulasī plant by that house, circumambulated it every day and constantly chanted Hare Krṣṇa Hare Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa Hare Hare / Hare Rāma Hare Rāma Rāma Rāma Hare Hare. Inspired the Supersoul, the villagers provided plenty of grains to the ex-hunter and his wife. The hunter gradually developed all the good qualities of a devotee described in the scriptures. Indeed, he did not even want to step over ants.