Devanagari
स वा अयं यत्पदमत्र सूरयो
जितेन्द्रिया निर्जितमातरिश्वन: ।
पश्यन्ति भक्त्युत्कलितामलात्मना
नन्वेष सत्त्वं परिमार्ष्टुमर्हति ॥ २३ ॥
Verse text
sa vā ayaṁ yat padam atra sūrayo
jitendriyā nirjita-mātariśvanaḥ
paśyanti bhakty-utkalitāmalātmanā
nanv eṣa sattvaṁ parimārṣṭum arhati
Synonyms
saḥ
—
He
;
vai
—
by providence
;
ayam
—
this
;
yat
—
that which
;
padam atra
—
here is the same Personality of Godhead Śrī Kṛṣṇa
;
sūrayaḥ
—
great devotees
;
jita
—
indriyāḥ — who have overcome the influence of the senses
;
nirjita
—
thoroughly controlled
;
mātariśvanaḥ
—
life
;
paśyanti
—
can see
;
bhakti
—
by dint of devotional service
;
utkalita
—
developed
;
amala
—
ātmanā — those whose minds are thoroughly cleansed
;
nanu eṣaḥ
—
certainly by this only
;
sattvam
—
existence
;
parimārṣṭum
—
for purifying the mind completely
;
arhati
—
deserve .
Translation
Here is the same Supreme Personality of Godhead whose transcendental form is experienced by the great devotees who are completely cleansed of material consciousness by dint of rigid devotional service and full control of life and the senses. And that is the only way to purify existence.
Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)
He is that person whose form the sages who have controlled their senses by controlling their life air see with intelligence purified by intense bhakti. Certainly he can purify the intelligence completely.
Purport
As it is stated in
Bhagavad-gītā,
the Lord can be known in His real nature by dint of pure devotional service only. So it is stated here that only the great devotees of the Lord who are able to clear the mind of all material dust by rigid devotional service can experience the Lord as He is.
Jitendriya
means one who has full control over the senses. The senses are active parts of the body, and their activities cannot be stopped. The artificial means of the yogic processes to make the senses inactive has proved to be abject failure, even in the case of great
yogīs
like Viśvāmitra Muni. Viśvāmitra Muni controlled the senses by yogic trance, but when he happened to meet Menakā (a heavenly society woman), he became a victim of sex, and the artificial way of controlling the senses failed. But in the case of a pure devotee, the senses are not at all artificially stopped from doing anything, but they are given different good engagements. When the senses are engaged in more attractive activities, there is no chance of their being attracted by any inferior engagements. In the
Bhagavad-gītā
it is said that
the senses can be controlled only by better engagements.
Devotional service necessitates purifying the senses or engaging them in the activities of devotional service. Devotional service is not inaction. Anything done in the service of the Lord becomes at once purified of its material nature. The material conception is due to ignorance only. There is nothing beyond Vāsudeva. The Vāsudeva conception gradually develops in the heart of the learned after a prolonged acceleration of the receptive organs. But the process ends in the knowledge of accepting Vāsudeva as all in all. In the case of devotional service, this very same method is accepted from the very beginning, and by the grace of the Lord all factual knowledge becomes revealed in the heart of a devotee due to dictation by the Lord from within. Therefore controlling the senses by devotional service is the only and easiest means.
Commentary (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)
“The puruṣāvatāras present at the beginning of creation have been described, but Kṛṣṇa is not of that type. He is perceivable now, during Dvāpara-yuga in the twenty-eighth cycle of Vaivasvata-manvantara.” That is true. But though his eternal pastimes and eternal form, perceived by bhakti, have appeared in Dvāpara-yuga, his pastimes can always be perceived by those having devotion. That is expressed in this verse.
Those who control the life air (nirjita-mātariśvaṇaḥ), or those who control the senses because of controlling the life air, by intelligence (ātmanā) purified and enlivened by bhakti, see the lotus feet or the form (padam) of the Lord. Mātariśvānaḥ becomes mātariśvanaḥ by poetic license. Because the senses are dependent on the life air, if one controls the life air, one controls the senses. Śruti says dṛśyate tv agryayā buddhyā: the Lord is seen by eager intelligence. (Katha Upaniṣad 3.12) Next they explain that he is the cause of the purity of their intelligence. Certainly (nanu) he, and not yoga or other processes, can purify completely (parimārṣṭum) the intelligence (sattvam). The implication is that being a sage and conquering the senses and the life air is accomplished by their bhakti alone, not by prāṇāyama or other processes. The sages, being eager with bhakti, see the Lord. This is in the present tense to indicate that his pastimes are visible at all times. Brahmā says ataḥ parārdhyante so ’budhyata gopa-veśo me pūruṣaḥ purastād āvirbabhūva: after a half of my life time, I perceived him; he appeared before me with the dress of a cowherd. (Gopāla-tāpanī Upaniṣad) Also in Brahma-saṁhitā, Kṛṣṇa appeared at the beginning of creation to Brahmā and Brahmā praised him.