Devanagari
तुभ्यं नमस्ते त्वविषक्तदृष्टये
सर्वात्मने सर्वधियां च साक्षिणे ।
गुणप्रवाहोऽयमविद्यया कृत:
प्रवर्तते देवनृतिर्यगात्मसु ॥ १२ ॥
Verse text
tubhyaṁ namas te tv aviṣakta-dṛṣṭaye
sarvātmane sarva-dhiyāṁ ca sākṣiṇe
guṇa-pravāho ’yam avidyayā kṛtaḥ
pravartate deva-nṛ-tiryag-ātmasu
Synonyms
tubhyam
—
to You
;
namaḥ
—
obeisances
;
te
—
Your
;
tu
—
and
;
aviṣakta
—
aloof
;
dṛṣṭaye
—
whose vision
;
sarva
—
ātmane — to the Soul of all
;
sarva
—
of everyone
;
dhiyām
—
of the consciousness
;
ca
—
and
;
sākṣiṇe
—
to the witness
;
guṇa
—
of the material modes
;
pravāhaḥ
—
the flow
;
ayam
—
this
;
avidyayā
—
by the force of ignorance
;
kṛtaḥ
—
created
;
pravartate
—
goes on
;
deva
—
as demigods
;
nṛ
—
humans
;
tiryak
—
and animals
;
ātmasu
—
among those who assume the identities .
Translation
I offer My obeisances to You, who as the Supreme Soul of all beings witness everyone’s consciousness with unbiased vision. The current of Your material modes, produced by the force of ignorance, flows strongly among the living beings who assume identities as demigods, humans and animals.
Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)
I offer My obeisances to You, who as the Supreme Soul of all beings witness everyone's consciousness with unbiased vision. The current of Your material modes, produced by the force of ignorance, flows strongly among the living beings who assume identities as demigods, humans and animals.
KB 10.40.12
“My dear Lord, I offer my respectful obeisances unto You because You are beyond the influence of the three modes. Except for You, everyone is being carried away by the waves of these modes.
Purport (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)
In order to attain you, I offer my respects to you. You do not show your mercy to anyone except your devotees. I pay respects to you, who has detached vision.
"If that is so, how you can say that I accept worship of devatas, for one who accepts should be attached to them."
"Though you accept their worship of devatas because you are the controller as inner paramatma, you are not at all dependent upon them or that worship. Since they do not worship you directly, how can you be attached to them? You are certainly the witness of all dwelling in their hearts but you reside there in a neutral position."
"Well, can the devatas deliver their worshippers then?"
"The force of the gunas caused by avidya influences the devas, humans, animals and birds to take up false bodily identity. As these devatas are also subject to the gunas, how can they deliver their worshippers from the gunas. "
Purport (Jiva Goswami)
Thinking that the Lord would be indifferent to the devatās and other jīvas, Akrūra becomes frightened and speaks with surrender to the Lord. Te should be linked to avidyayā (by your energy of ignorance) in the third line. The force of the guṇas created by your (te) ignorance acts upon the living beings. Or, I offer respects to you. The force of the guṇas acts upon the living beings in order to please you (te). Kriyārthopapadasya ca karmanī sthāninaḥ: the dative case expresses a suppressed infinitive. (Pāṇini 3.2.14) The word tu indicates a different topic. This shows the great difference of the Lord from the living entities having material bodies. Another version has astu instead of te tu. This means “clearly.” Though you see the living entities, you are unattached to them since you are the ātmā in all beings. Since you are the root form of all beings, and put others into motion, how could you be attached to others? Because you are the ātmā in all beings, you are detached. “Even if you are not interested as the seer, the guṇas that you see will still contact you.” Since you are the witness of all intelligence, because you just the witness, you remain unattached to them. If it is concluded that worship ultimately ends in realizing you, how can you remain indifferent? You are the witness of everyone’s intelligence (sarva-dhiyāṁ ca sākṣiṇe). The worshippers become favorable to you. They become your devotees. Knowing that, you are no longer indifferent.
samo 'haṁ sarva-bhūteṣu na me dveṣyo 'sti na priyaḥ |
ye bhajanti tu māṁ bhaktyā mayi te teṣu cāpy aham ||
I am equal to all living beings. I do not hate anyone nor do I favor anyone. To whatever extent a person worships me with devotion, I am attached to him in a similar way. BG 9.29
Considering this, what happens to all these beings before they realize you? The force of the guṇas acts upon them.
Purport (Sanatana Goswami)
Te should be linked to avidyayā (by your energy of ignorance) in the third line. The force of the guṇas created by your (te) ignorance acts upon the living beings. Instead of tubhyam sometimes tasmai is found. The word tu indicates a new subject, the lord, completely different from matter.
Another version has astu, indicating steadiness in offering respects. You are all ātmās (sarvātmane). The ātmās, as your aṁśas, are non-different from you. Or you are the giver of consciousness to all beings. Thus you are by nature different from the jīvas. The distinction is then made clear. Saṁsāra is experienced by all jīvas. It repeats again and again (pravartate). Or “Why should I be worshipped and not someone else?” Akrūra then describes the Lord and offers respect. You are not too concerned about the devotees’ offenses (avisakta-dṛṣtaye).
You forgive even many offenses. You are paramātmā (sarvatmane). This indicates that he is the dearest and the supreme Lord. You are the witness of all intelligence. You know if someone has somehow thought of you. This indicates the Lord’s gratitude and his value in being served.
Others, because of not knowing you, continually suffer and are not qualified for worshipping you. Saṁsāra affects them all. All devatās except Brahmā and Śiva are affected. Brahmā and Śiva are devotees.
Or the flow of your qualities like mercy affect devatās and others, even though they are in ignorance. The main cause of worshipping you is your mercy.