Devanagari
श्रीरुद्र उवाच
जितं त आत्मविद्वर्यस्वस्तये स्वस्तिरस्तु मे ।
भवताराधसा राद्धं सर्वस्मा आत्मने नम: ॥ ३३ ॥
Verse text
śrī-rudra uvāca
jitaṁ ta ātma-vid-varya-
svastaye svastir astu me
bhavatārādhasā rāddhaṁ
sarvasmā ātmane namaḥ
Synonyms
śrī
—
rudraḥ uvāca — Lord Śiva began to speak
;
jitam
—
all glories
;
te
—
unto You
;
ātma
—
vit — self-realized
;
varya
—
the best
;
svastaye
—
unto the auspicious
;
svastiḥ
—
auspiciousness
;
astu
—
let there be
;
me
—
of me
;
bhavatā
—
by You
;
ārādhasā
—
by the all-perfect
;
rāddham
—
worshipable
;
sarvasmai
—
the Supreme Soul
;
ātmane
—
unto the Supreme Soul
;
namaḥ
—
obeisances .
Translation
Lord Śiva addressed the Supreme Personality of Godhead with the following prayer: O Supreme Personality of Godhead, all glories unto You. You are the most exalted of all self-realized souls. Since You are always auspicious for the self-realized, I wish that You be auspicious for me. You are worshipable by virtue of the all-perfect instructions You give. You are the Supersoul; therefore I offer my obeisances unto You as the supreme living being.
Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)
Śiva said: You, the Lord, have revealed yourself as supreme for producing the most auspicious condition for the best of ātmārāmas. Let me also have that auspicious condition! Let me have perfection by worshipping you. I offer respects to you, who are everyone, including guru.
The devotee, in praising the Lord, first utters “Jaya! Jaya!” You have revealed yourself (jitam) as supreme in order to produce the most auspicious state for the best of ātmārāmas. Svastaye comes from svasti, formed from su and asti. The root of the verb as (to be) can be expresses as asti according to the rule ik śatipau dhātu-nirdeśaḥ. (Pāṇini 3.3.108, Vārtikā) This refers to the eternal condition of being a devotee such as Śukadeva, who had attraction for the sweet qualities of the Lord, devoid of the desire for liberation.
tathā paramahaṁsānāṁ munīnām amalātmanām |
bhakti-yoga-vidhānārthaṁ kathaṁ paśyema hi striyaḥ ||
How can we women hope to see you, the object of bhakti for the omniscient, liberated sages? SB 1.8.20
ātmārāmāś ca munayo nirgranthā apy urukrame |
kurvanty ahaitukīṁ bhaktim ittham-bhūta-guṇo hariḥ ||
Some sages who are ātmārāmas, beyond the scriptures, false ego and rules, also practice unmotivated, pure bhakti to the master of pure bhakti, Kṛṣṇa, since he possesses qualities attractive to even them. SB 1.7.10
Let me also have that auspicious state! Let there be perfection (rāddham) by worshipping you. “But you attain that worship by guru or my devotee and no one else. Not by me.” You are the form of everyone. You are guru and devotee. You can make me worship you.
Purport
As soon as a devotee is inspired by the Lord to offer the Lord a prayer, the devotee immediately glorifies the Lord in the beginning by saying, “All glories unto You, my Lord.” The Lord is glorified because He is considered to be the chief of all self-realized souls. As said in the
Vedas
(
Kaṭha Upaniṣad
2.2.13),
nityo nityānāṁ cetanaś cetanānām:
the Supreme Being, the Personality of Godhead, is the chief living being amongst all living beings. There are different kinds of individual living beings — some of them are in this material world, and some are in the spiritual world. Those who are in the spiritual world are known to be completely self-realized because on the spiritual platform the living entity is not forgetful of his service to the Lord. Therefore in the spiritual world all those who are in the devotional service of the Lord are eternally fixed, for they understand the position of the Supreme Being, as well as their individual constitution. Thus amongst self-realized souls, the Lord is known as the perfectly self-realized soul (
nityo nityānāṁ cetanaś cetanānām
). When the individual soul is fixed in his knowledge of the Lord as the Supreme Being, he actually becomes established in an all-auspicious position. Lord Śiva prays herein that his auspicious position continue eternally by virtue of the Lord’s mercy upon him.
The Supreme Lord is all-perfect, and the Lord instructs that one who worships Him also becomes perfect. As stated in
Bhagavad-gītā
(15.15)
:
mattaḥ smṛtir jṣānam apohanaṁ ca.
The Lord is situated as the Supersoul in everyone’s heart, but He is so kind to His devotees that He gives them instructions by which they may continue to progress. When they receive instructions from the all-perfect, there is no chance of their being misled. This is also confirmed in
Bhagavad-gītā
(10.10)
:
dadāmi buddhi-yogaṁ taṁ yena mām upayānti te.
The Lord is always ready to give instructions to the pure devotee so that the devotee can advance further and further in devotional service. Since the Lord gives instructions as
sarvātmā,
the Supersoul, Lord Śiva offers Him respect with the words
sarvasmā
ātmane namaḥ.
The individual soul is called
ātmā,
and the Lord is also called
ātmā
as well as Paramātmā. Being situated in everyone’s heart, the Lord is known as the supreme
ātmā.
Therefore all obeisances are offered unto Him. In this regard, one may refer to the prayers of Kuntī in the First Canto of
Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam
(1.8.20)
:
tathā paramahaṁsānāṁ
munīnām amalātmanām
bhakti-yoga-vidhānārthaṁ
kathaṁ paśyema hi striyaḥ
The Lord is always ready to give instructions to the
paramahaṁsas,
or the topmost devotees of the Lord, who are completely liberated from all contaminations of the material world. The Lord always gives instructions to such exalted devotees to inform them how they can remain fixed in devotional service. Similarly, it is stated in the
ātmārāma
verse (
Bhāg.
1.7.10
):
ātmārāmāś ca munayo
nirgranthā apy urukrame
kurvanty ahaitukīṁ bhaktim
ittham-bhūta-guṇo hariḥ
The word
ātmārāma
refers to those who are not interested in the material world but are simply engaged in spiritual realization. Such self-realized persons are generally considered in two categories — impersonal and personal. However, impersonalists also become devotees when they are attracted by the personal transcendental qualities of the Lord. The conclusion is that Lord Śiva wanted to remain a fixed devotee of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Vāsudeva. As explained in the following verses, Lord Śiva never desires to merge into the existence of the Supreme Lord like the impersonalists. Rather, he thinks that it would be good fortune for him to continue to be fixed in the understanding of the Lord as the Supreme Being. By this understanding, one realizes that all living entities — including Lord Śiva, Lord Brahmā and other demigods — are servants of the Supreme Lord.