Devanagari
मनो ब्रह्मणि युञ्जानो यत्तत्सदसत: परम् ।
गुणावभासे विगुण एकभक्त्यानुभाविते ॥ ४३ ॥
Verse text
mano brahmaṇi yuṣjāno
yat tat sad-asataḥ param
guṇāvabhāse viguṇa
eka-bhaktyānubhāvite
Synonyms
manaḥ
—
mind
;
brahmaṇi
—
on the Supreme
;
yuṣjānaḥ
—
fixing
;
yat
—
which
;
tat
—
that
;
sat
—
asataḥ — cause and effect
;
param
—
beyond
;
guṇa
—
avabhāse — who manifests the three modes of material nature
;
viguṇe
—
who is beyond the material modes
;
eka
—
bhaktyā — by exclusive devotion
;
anubhāvite
—
who is perceived .
Translation
He fixed his mind upon the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Parabrahman, who is beyond cause and effect, who manifests the three modes of material nature, who is beyond those three modes, and who is perceived only through unfailing devotional service.
Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)
He fixed his mind on the Brahman which is beyond auspicious and inauspicious, which has spiritual qualities and is devoid of material qualities, and which is realized by pure bhakti.
He fixed his mind, which was beyond auspicious and inauspicious objects (sad-asataḥ param). What was the Brahman like? It had a manifestation (avabhāse) of spiritual qualities such as beauty, sweetness and power, and was devoid of material guṇas (viguṇe). It was realized by his senses through pure bhakti.
Purport
Whenever there is
bhakti,
there must be three things present — the devotee, the devotion and the Lord. Without these three —
bhakta, bhakti
and Bhagavān — there is no meaning to the word
bhakti.
Kardama Muni fixed his mind on the Supreme Brahman and realized Him through
bhakti,
or devotional service. This indicates that he fixed his mind on the personal feature of the Lord because
bhakti
cannot be executed unless one has realization of the personal feature of the Absolute Truth.
Guṇāvabhāse:
He is beyond the three modes of material nature, but it is due to Him that the three modes of material nature are manifested. In other words, although the material energy is an emanation of the Supreme Lord, He is not affected, as we are, by the modes of material nature. We are conditioned souls, but He is not affected, although the material nature has emanated from Him. He is the supreme living entity and is never affected by
māyā,
but we are subordinate, minute living entities, prone to be affected by the limitations of
māyā.
If he is in constant contact with the Supreme Lord by devotional service, the conditioned living entity also becomes freed from the infection of
māyā.
This is confirmed in
Bhagavad-gītā:
sa guṇān samatītyaitān.
A person engaged in Kṛṣṇa consciousness is at once liberated from the influence of the three modes of material nature. In other words, once the conditioned soul engages himself in devotional service, he also becomes liberated like the Lord.