In plain words
In the land of Āndhra there were three rājus. One was Tyāgarāju. The second was Potarāju. The third was Goparāju. Goparāju, Tyāgarāju and Potarāju: these are spiritual kings. Potarāju is Potana himself. A man of great virtue, who wrote the great Bhāgavatam. Śrīnātha, brother-in-law to this man of renunciation, seeing Potarāju's hardships and wanting somehow to make him comfortable, came: “Brother-in-law! The state of your house is not unknown to me. You are suffering hardship, without food to eat, without clothes to wear, without a roof to live under. All your poetry you offer to Śrī Rāmacandra alone. We see no gain at all coming from this. For a worldly life, only what is tangible is needed. If you offer your poetry to kings, you will be showered with jewels!” he said. Potanna's heart was deeply pained. “What if one is a ploughman, rather than give it to base men and eat the food of a harlot?” “Rather than dedicate my poem to kings who are Ahaṅkāra itself and live by eating the food they throw down, it is far more sacred that I take refuge in the earth, plough it and live!” he said. Because Potana offered his all to God, the Bhāgavatam spread throughout the world. Even before he began to write the Bhāgavatam,
what is spoken is the Bhāgavatam, they say; the one who makes me speak is Rāmabhadra, they say; what I speak will end the round of birth, they say; so I will speak it: why speak any other tale!
he said. “He Himself is the one who writes, He Himself the one who makes it spoken, He Himself the one who receives it, He Himself the one who enjoys it”: with that, he laid no burden on himself and offered everything to God alone. God alone is the cause of the creation, sustenance and dissolution of this world. “Instead of offering it to God, who is all-powerful and all-knowing, I do not like to offer it to ignorant men who swing between Ahaṅkāra and pomp,” he said. Next, Tyāgarāju.
Seeing him suffering hardship, the king of Tanjāvūr sent a palanquin with many goods and carriages and heaps of gold. Tyāgarāju looked at it. He laughed. “Is treasure the greater joy? Is the presence of Īśvara the greater joy? Tell me truly, O mind!” he said. “What I want is Rāma's presence alone; that is my treasure. I do not need these things”: saying so, he sent them back. He made a tyāga worthy of his name. Everything is God Himself. Tyāgarāju is the one who pushed it all back, saying, “I need neither other objects nor the help of others.” Then Goparāju took refuge in Rāma of Bhadrācalam. He went on offering to God his life and all the wealth he earned.