Devanagari
स त्वं कथं मम विभोऽक्षिपथ: परात्मा
योगेश्वरै: श्रुतिदृशामलहृद्विभाव्य: ।
साक्षादधोक्षज उरुव्यसनान्धबुद्धे:
स्यान्मेऽनुदृश्य इह यस्य भवापवर्ग: ॥ २६ ॥
Verse text
sa tvaṁ kathaṁ mama vibho ’kṣi-pathaḥ parātmā
yogeśvaraḥ śruti-dṛśāmala-hṛd-vibhāvyaḥ
sākṣād adhokṣaja uru-vyasanāndha-buddheḥ
syān me ’nudṛśya iha yasya bhavāpavargaḥ
Synonyms
saḥ
—
He
;
tvam
—
Yourself
;
katham
—
how
;
mama
—
to me
;
vibho
—
O almighty one
;
akṣi
—
pathaḥ — visible
;
para
—
ātmā — the Supreme Soul
;
yoga
—
of mystic yoga
;
īśvaraiḥ
—
by masters
;
śruti
—
of the scriptures
;
dṛśā
—
by the eye
;
amala
—
spotless
;
hṛt
—
within their hearts
;
vibhāvyaḥ
—
to be meditated upon
;
sākṣāt
—
directly visible
;
adhokṣaja
—
O transcendental Lord, who cannot be seen by material senses
;
uru
—
severe
;
vyasana
—
by troubles
;
andha
—
blinded
;
buddheḥ
—
whose intelligence
;
syāt
—
it may be
;
me
—
for me
;
anudṛśyaḥ
—
to be perceived
;
iha
—
in this world
;
yasya
—
whose
;
bhava
—
of material life
;
apavargaḥ
—
cessation .
Translation
O almighty one, how is it that my eyes see You here before me? You are the Supreme Soul, whom the greatest masters of mystic yoga can meditate upon within their pure hearts only by employing the spiritual eye of the Vedas. Then how, O transcendental Lord, are You directly visible to me, since my intelligence has been blinded by the severe tribulations of material life? Only one who has finished his material entanglement in this world should be able to see You.
Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)
O almighty one, how is it that my eyes see You here before me? You are the Supreme Soul, whom the greatest masters of mystic yoga can meditate upon within their pure hearts only by employing the spiritual eye of the Vedas. Then how, O transcendental Lord, are You directly visible to me, since my intelligence has been blinded by the severe tribulations of material life? Only one who has finished his material entanglement in this world should be able to see You.
KB 10.64.26
“My dear Lord, You are the Supersoul seated in everyone’s heart. There are many great mystic yogīs who have the eyes to see You through the Vedas and Upaniṣads. To achieve the elevated position of realizing that they are equal in quality with You, they always meditate on You within their hearts. But although such exalted saintly persons may see You constantly within their hearts, they still cannot see You face to face. Therefore I am very much surprised that I am able to see You personally. I know that I was engaged in so many activities, especially as a king. Although I was in the midst of luxury and opulence and was subject to so much of the happiness and misery of material existence, I am so fortunate to be seeing You personally. As far as I know, when one becomes liberated from material existence, he can see You in this way.”
When King Nṛga elected to receive the results of his impious activities, he was given the body of a lizard because of the mistake in his pious activities; thus he could not be directly converted to a higher status of life like a great demigod. However, along with his pious activities, he thought of Kṛṣṇa, so he was quickly released from the body of a lizard and given the body of a demigod. By worshiping the Supreme Lord, those who desire material opulences are given the bodies of powerful demigods. Sometimes these demigods can see the Supreme Personality of Godhead face to face, but they are still not yet eligible to enter into the spiritual kingdom, the Vaikuṇṭha planets. However, if the demigods continue to be devotees of the Lord, the next chance they get they will enter into the Vaikuṇṭha planets.
Purport
Even in the body of a lizard, King Nṛga could remember his previous life. And now that he had the opportunity to see the Lord, he could understand that he had received special mercy from the Personality of Godhead.
Purport (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)
He rejoices at his good fortune, being astonished at seeing Krsna. How can I see you, who are the object of meditation for great yogis like Sanaka and others in their pure hearts through the eye of the Upanisads. And you are directly adhoksaja, svayam bhagavan, the breaker of the cart (adhoksam means under the axle). And you have come to the sight of me, among the lowest, with intelligence blinded by great suffering. You are usually only visible to those who have destroyed the bondage of samsara (bhava aparvargah). So how are you visible to me? It should not be so. It happens only by the blessing of some great devotee."
Purport (Jiva Goswami)
You are most rare, or have indescribable glories (saḥ). O Lord you are spread everywhere (vibho)! Thus you cannot be seen (aksi-pathaḥ). You are difficult to see directly since you are with the ātmā (parātmā). You are realized by great capable devotees of bhakti (yogeśvaraiḥ). Yoga means joining with the Lord.
Or, by what method are you visible (katham akṣi-pathaḥ)? You cannot be attained just by thinking since you are not the object of jñāna (adhokṣaja). It is not possible that you can be directly present. I am moreover blinded by worldly problems. Therefore you cannot be directly present since you only give a likeness to your presence (anudṛśya) to a person free of material pursuits. It is remarkable that you show yourself to me though I have attained a heavenly body, since you are beyond everything and unlimited. How has this happened? It is some type of mercy, some type of your śakti. You only know.
Purport (Sanatana Goswami)
You are most rare, or have indescribable glories (saḥ). O Lord you are spread everywhere (vibho)! Thus you cannot be seen (aksi-pathaḥ). You are difficult to see directly since you are with the ātmā (parātmā). How can I slightly see you in my (me) life or in this well (iha)?
Or O my lord (mama vibho)! “How can the Lord be seen by the servants?” You are the supreme ātmā. You can be really perceived in the pure heart by knowledge of the meaning of the Vedas by the best devotees of bhakti-yoga. O avatari (sākṣāt adhokṣaja)! Or Kṛṣṇa, born again under the axel, son of Yaśodā! Those who have ended material existence can see you in Dvārakā (iha).
Or, by what method are you visible (katham akṣi-pathaḥ)? You cannot be attained just by thinking, since you are not the object of jñāna (adhokṣaja). It is not possible that you can be directly present. I am moreover blinded by worldly problems. Therefore you cannot be directly present since you only give a likeness to your presence (anudṛśya) to a person free of material pursuits. It is remarkable that you show yourself to me, though I have attained a heavenly body, since you are beyond everything and unlimited. How has this happened? It is some type of mercy, some type of your śakti. You only know.