In this case, the Lord becomes subservient to his devotee, bestowing his mercy in accordance with the devotee's mercy. But there is no irregularity in this arrangement, because the reason that mercy appeared in the devotee is because bhakti is in his heart. Without having bhakti there is no possibility of the devotee manifesting mercy to others. The mercy is thus the self-manifesting independent nature of bhakti.
Therefore, in the statement yah kenapy atibhagyena jata sradho sya sevane, (the person who has attained faith in the service of the Lord by extreme good fortune), the word atibhagyena (extremely good fortune) should be understood to mean the attainment of the mercy of the devotee, which surpasses the results of material pious activities.
But one should not conclude that since the devotee is dependent on the will of Lord, the devotee cannot initiate the bestowal of mercy, since the Lord willingly becomes subservient to his devotee and gives preeminence to the devotee's position by granting him the power to bestow the Lord's mercy. Though as paramatma he simply oversees the affairs of the jiva's external senses, which are the reward of his past activities, the Lord personally shows special mercy to his devotees by giving them his own independent power to bestow mercy to others.
As Krishna says in Bhagavadgita, only by his bestowal of mercy can one attain his eternal spiritual realm. This mercy is manifested in the Lord's bestowal of his own krpa-sakti to his devotee, who then gives it to the fallen souls, as previously explained.
- First shower of Madhurya kadambini, commentary by Srila Visvanatha Chakravarti, translated by HH Bhanu swami maharaj
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