Devanagari
सत्त्वं विशुद्धं श्रयते भवान् स्थितौ
शरीरिणां श्रेयउपायनं वपु: ।
वेदक्रियायोगतप:समाधिभि-
स्तवार्हणं येन जन: समीहते ॥ ३४ ॥
Verse text
sattvaṁ viśuddhaṁ śrayate bhavān sthitau
śarīriṇāṁ śreya-upāyanaṁ vapuḥ
veda-kriyā-yoga-tapaḥ-samādhibhis
tavārhaṇaṁ yena janaḥ samīhate
Synonyms
sattvam
—
existence
;
viśuddham
—
transcendental, beyond the three modes of material nature
;
śrayate
—
accepts
;
bhavān
—
Your Lordship
;
sthitau
—
during the maintenance of this material world
;
śarīriṇām
—
of all living entities
;
śreyaḥ
—
of supreme auspiciousness
;
upāyanam
—
for the benefit
;
vapuḥ
—
a transcendental form or body
;
veda
—
kriyā — by ritualistic ceremonies according to the directions of the Vedas
;
yoga
—
by practice of devotion
;
tapaḥ
—
by austerities
;
samādhibhiḥ
—
by becoming absorbed in transcendental existence
;
tava
—
Your
;
arhaṇam
—
worship
;
yena
—
by such activities
;
janaḥ
—
human society
;
samīhate
—
offers (its obligation unto You) .
Translation
O Lord, during the time of maintenance You manifest several incarnations, all with transcendental bodies, beyond the material modes of nature. When You appear in this way, You bestow all good fortune upon the living entities by teaching them to perform Vedic activities such as ritualistic ceremonies, mystic yoga, austerities, penances, and ultimately samādhi, ecstatic absorption in thoughts of You. Thus You are worshiped by the Vedic principles.
Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)
O Lord, during the time of maintenance You manifest several incarnations, all with transcendental bodies, beyond the material modes of nature. When You appear in this way, You bestow all good fortune upon the living entities by teaching them to perform Vedic activities such as ritualistic ceremonies, mystic yoga, austerities, penances, and ultimately samādhi, ecstatic absorption in thoughts of You. Thus You are worshiped by the Vedic principles.
Purport
As stated in
Bhagavad-gītā
(18.3)
,
yajṣa-dāna-tapaḥ-karma na tyājyam:
the Vedic ritualistic ceremonies, charity, austerity and all such prescribed duties are never to be given up.
Yajṣo dānaṁ tapaś caiva pāvanāni manīṣiṇām
(18.5): even one who is very much advanced in spiritual realization must still execute the Vedic principles. Even in the lowest stage, the
karmīs
are advised to work for the sake of the Lord.
yajṣārthāt karmaṇo ’nyatra
loko ’yaṁ karma-bandhanaḥ
“Work done as a sacrifice for Viṣṇu has to be performed, otherwise work binds one to this material world.” (
Bg. 3.9
) The words
yajṣārthāt karmaṇaḥ
indicate that while performing all kinds of duties, one should remember that these duties should be performed to satisfy the Supreme Lord (
sva-karmaṇā tam abhyarcya
). According to Vedic principles, there must be divisions of human society (
cātur-varṇyaṁ mayā sṛṣṭam
). There should be
brāhmaṇas, kṣatriyas, vaiśyas
and
śūdras,
and everyone should learn to worship the Supreme Personality of Godhead (
tam abhyarcya
). This is real human society, and without this system we are left with animal society.
The modern activities of human society are described in
Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam
as the activities of
go-khara,
cows and asses (
sa eva go-kharaḥ
). Everyone is acting in a bodily concept of life involving society, friendship and love for the improvement of economic and political conditions, and thus all activities are enacted in ignorance. The Supreme Personality therefore comes to teach us how to act according to the Vedic principles. In this Age of Kali, the Supreme Personality of Godhead appeared as Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu and preached that in this age the Vedic activities cannot be systematically performed because people are so fallen. He gave this recommendation from the
śāstras:
harer nāma harer nāma
harer nāmaiva kevalam
kalau nāsty eva nāsty eva
nāsty eva gatir anyathā
“In this age of quarrel and hypocrisy the only means of deliverance is chanting the holy name of the Lord. There is no other way. There is no other way. There is no other way.” The Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement is therefore teaching people all over the world how to chant the Hare Kṛṣṇa
mantra,
and this has proved very much effective in all places at all times. The Supreme Personality of Godhead appears in order to teach us Vedic principles intended for understanding Him (
vedaiś ca sarvair aham eva vedyaḥ
). We should always know that when Kṛṣṇa and Lord Caitanya appeared, They appeared in
śuddha-sattva
bodies. One should not mistake the body of Kṛṣṇa or Caitanya Mahāprabhu to be a material body like ours, for Kṛṣṇa and Caitanya Mahāprabhu appeared as needed for the benefit of the entire human society. Out of causeless mercy, the Lord appears in different ages in His original
śuddha-sattva
transcendental body to elevate human society to the spiritual platform upon which they can truly benefit. Unfortunately, modern politicians and other leaders stress the bodily comforts of life (
yasyātma-buddhiḥ kuṇape tri-dhātuke
) and concentrate on the activities of this ism and that ism, which they describe in different kinds of flowery language. Essentially such activities are the activities of animals (
sa eva go-kharaḥ
). We should learn how to act from
Bhagavad-gītā,
which explains everything for human understanding. Thus we can become happy even in this Age of Kali.
Purport (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)
In verse 29 there was mention of the Lord’s pure forms appearing in the world of moving and non-moving entities. That verse says that the purpose of the Lord’s appearance is to help the devotees. In verse 30-33 the purity of bhakti has been mentioned. In verse 32, there is the hint that by attachment to the Lord’s feet the devotee also attains liberation as a secondary result. The present verse is spoken to show that that the real purpose of the Lord’s appearance in the world is to establish bhakti.
You accept a purely spiritual body beyond material contamination (visuddha sattvam). What type of form? In maintaining the world (sthitau) you accept a body which brings about (upayana) benefit (sreya) for the living entities. What is that benefit? Veda kriya yoga tapasa samadhi. The brahmacaris study the Vedas, the grhasthas perform kriya yoga, the vanaprasthis perform tapas and the sannyasis sit in samadhi. Men worship (arhanam sam ihate) you through their activities in these four asramas. This is the benefit that you bring about by your appearance. If one does not accept your spiritual form he cannot attain perfection.
Purport (Jiva Goswami)
Though you have a body which is the supreme cause as mentioned in SB 3.9.3, you manifest a body of śuddha-sattava in this world. This viśuddha-sattva body is beyond māyā, arising from the cic-cakti and is not different from you through your prakāśa-śakti. You appear to protect the world (sthitau). Though you have a variety of eternal bodies, you take shelter of a particular body for protecting the world at a particular time. For instance, though a person has various senses, he takes shelter of the eye to see or the ear to hear. After appearing, in giving protection, these forms produce happiness for the living beings even through meditation. Your body is like a gift given in compassion for unlimited beings, which yields results of pious acts and other goals up to prema. Or your body is the best gift, the highest bliss.
etasyaivānandasyānyāni bhūtāni mātrām upajīvanti
By the Lord full of bliss all beings live. Bṛhad-āraṇyaka Upaniṣad 4.3.32
He gives results to the respective worshippers. People worship him through the dharmas of the four āśramas by offering the Vedas etc. By mentioning these types of worship it is implied that the worship can take place even without the presence of the Lord, just by aiming for him. By that body, all people in the four āśramas (brahmacārī—veda, gṛhasthas—kriyā-yoga, vanaprasthas—tapas and sannyasīs—samādhi) directly (sam) undertake (īhate) worship. However if one worships through the Vedas or other methods without aiming at the body of the Lord, it is not direct worship. That is suggested. By this execution of worship by the four āśramas others also gain perfection. For this reason it said that this is the best method for all beings (śārīrināṁ). Śrīdhara Svāmī says that without aiming for the body of the Lord, one cannot even attain the results of karma-yoga actions. It is said:
svargāpavargayoḥ puṁsāṁ rasāyāṁ bhuvi sampadām
sarvāsām api siddhīnāṁ mūlaṁ tac-caraṇārcanam
Devotional service to his lotus feet is the root cause of all the perfections a person can find in heaven, in liberation, in the subterranean regions and on earth. SB 10.81.19
Purport (Sanatana Goswami)
You take shelter of a pure form for protecting. The method is explained. It is the best gift for the unlimited jīvas with moving and non-moving bodies, giving them dharmas through the Vedas. By this body, the people of the four āśramas engage in your worship. By engaging in their dharmas they become purified in mind. This is the method of worship. By this worship by the four āśramas all others who are related to them (moving and non-moving entities) also become perfect.
Or śreya upāyanam can mean that by which one attains (ayanam) the best goals. The Vedas etc. teach bhakti to you. Otherwise the four āśramas would never attain bhakti. Or śreya upāyanam means he to whom the best offerings are made. Becoming your devotees, using the Vedas which are your form (vapuḥ) as offerings, the people of the four āśramas perform your worship.
Or you take shelter of a form which allows one to quickly attain (upāyanam) prema or Vaikuṇṭha. How? Through offering one’s dharma, one attains worship of the form, which allows attainment of the highest goal.
Or by manifesting sattva-guṇa, everything is attained, including service to you. You manifest (śrayate) sattva-guṇa. By that sattva, the body of all jīvas (vapuḥ) becomes the best means of attaining everything (śreya upāyanam), by the Vedas etc. Or by Vedas people perform their dharmas and all members of the āśramas become your devotees. Yena can refer to both the form and the Vedas.