Devanagari
प्रादुश्चकर्थ यदिदं पुरुहूत रूपं
तेनेश निर्वृतिमवापुरलं दृशो न: ।
तस्मा इदं भगवते नम इद्विधेम
योऽनात्मनां दुरुदयो भगवान् प्रतीत: ॥ ५० ॥
Verse text
prāduścakartha yad idaṁ puruhūta rūpaṁ
teneśa nirvṛtim avāpur alaṁ dṛśo naḥ
tasmā idaṁ bhagavate nama id vidhema
yo ’nātmanāṁ durudayo bhagavān pratītaḥ
Synonyms
prāduścakartha
—
You have manifested
;
yat
—
which
;
idam
—
this
;
puruhūta
—
O greatly worshiped
;
rūpam
—
eternal form
;
tena
—
by that form
;
īśa
—
O Lord
;
nirvṛtim
—
satisfaction
;
avāpuḥ
—
obtained
;
alam
—
so much
;
dṛśaḥ
—
vision
;
naḥ
—
our
;
tasmai
—
unto Him
;
idam
—
this
;
bhagavate
—
unto the Supreme Personality of Godhead
;
namaḥ
—
obeisances
;
it
—
only
;
vidhema
—
let us offer
;
yaḥ
—
who
;
anātmanām
—
of those who are less intelligent
;
durudayaḥ
—
cannot be seen
;
bhagavān
—
the Supreme Personality of Godhead
;
pratītaḥ
—
has been seen by us .
Translation
O Lord, we therefore offer our respectful obeisances unto Your eternal form as the Personality of Godhead, which You have so kindly manifested before us. Your supreme, eternal form cannot be seen by unfortunate, less intelligent persons, but we are so much satisfied in our mind and vision to see it.
Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)
O Lord, called by the devotees! Our eyes have attained bliss by seeing you who have appeared with this form. We offer respects to the Lord who appears difficult to see for those who do not serve the Lord.
We prayed for indirect perception of you, through the bliss of hearing, chanting and remembering about you. But you have made us drink the nectar of direct association with you, though we have been offenders. Such great tolerance is your unlimited mercy. O Lord, called by many devotees (puruhūta) with names like Nārāyaṇa, Viṣnu, Govinda! Please give mercy! We have become successful by you who revealed your form, being under the control of unlimited mercy arising from devotees calling your name. By that vision of your form, our eyes (dṛṣaḥ) or intellects have attained bliss. They offer respects by placing their folded hands about their heads. It means “thus” or “going.” We offer obeisance (namaḥ) going (it) to your lotus feet. You do not appear to those who do not have you (ātma) as the object of service (anātmānām). Or you do not appear to those persons who, being devoid of you, are devoid of soul (anātmānām). hey are like dirt. Just as the sun is difficult to see for owls, the Lord appears (pratītaḥ) difficult to see for the non-devotees.
The Kumāras are famous as being fixed in realization of Brahman and are known as the jewels in the crown among all ātmārāmas. Ṣruti says tasmai mṛditakaṣāyāya tamasaḥ pāraṁ darśayati bhagavān sanatkumāraḥ: I offer respects to Sanatkumāra, who has destroyed all defects and shows the supreme Brahman beyond ignorance. (Chāndogya Upaniṣad 7.26) When such sages offer prayers of this nature, one must understand the superiority of the bliss in worship of the Lord over the bliss of Brahman. This means that the Lord’s form, name, qualities, clothing, devotees and abodes are naturally all spiritual in form. If they were not of this nature, bhakti could not be successful. Later, in the statements of Kapila, these items are described as nirguṇa, without material qualities. Bhārata-tātparya says muktānām api bhaktir hi nityānanda svarūpiṇī: bhakti is the form of eternal bliss for the liberated souls. Śruti also confirms this with āprāṇayanāt tatrāpi hi dṛṣṭam: bhakti is performed before liberation and it is seen after liberation as well. (Brahma-ṣūtra 4.1.12) In Madhvācārya’s commentary on this sūtra he quotes Sauparṇa-śruti: sarvadainam upāsīta yāvan muktir amuktā hy enam upāsate: the Lord is worshipped at all times; he is worshiped by the liberated and by those not liberated. In relation to the great devotees such as Prahlāda and Bali, Viṣṇu Purāṇa says pātāle kasya na prītir vimuktasyāpi jāyate: in the lower planets, even those who are liberated do not have bhakti.
Thus ends the commentary on Fifteenth Chapter of the Third Canto of the Bhāgavatam for the pleasure of the devotees, in accordance with the previous ācāryas
Chapter Sixteen
Conversation between the Lord and the Kumāras
Purport
The four sages were impersonalists in the beginning of their spiritual life, but afterwards, by the grace of their father and spiritual master, Brahmā, they understood the eternal, spiritual form of the Lord and felt completely satisfied. In other words, the transcendentalists who aspire to the impersonal Brahman or localized Paramātmā are not fully satisfied and still hanker for more. Even if they are satisfied in their minds, still, transcendentally, their eyes are not satisfied. But as soon as such persons come to realize the Supreme Personality of Godhead, they are satisfied in all respects. In other words, they become devotees and want to see the form of the Lord continually. It is confirmed in the
Brahma-saṁhitā
that one who has developed transcendental love of Kṛṣṇa by smearing his eyes with the ointment of love sees constantly the eternal form of the Lord. The particular word used in this connection,
anātmanām,
signifies those who have no control over the mind and senses and who therefore speculate and want to become one with the Lord. Such persons cannot have the pleasure of seeing the eternal form of the Lord. For the impersonalists and the so-called
yogīs,
the Lord is always hidden by the curtain of
yoga-māyā.
Bhagavad-gītā
says that even when Lord Kṛṣṇa was seen by everyone while He was present on the surface of the earth, the impersonalists and the so-called
yogīs
could not see Him because they were devoid of devotional eyesight. The theory of the impersonalists and so-called
yogīs
is that the Supreme Lord assumes a particular form when He comes in touch with
māyā,
although actually He has no form. This very conception of the impersonalists and so-called
yogīs
checks them from seeing the Supreme Personality of Godhead as He is. The Lord, therefore, is always beyond the sight of such nondevotees. The four sages felt so much obliged to the Lord that they offered their respectful obeisances unto Him again and again.
Thus end the Bhaktivedanta purports of the Third Canto, Fifteenth Chapter, of the
Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam,
entitled “Description of the Kingdom of God.”