Devanagari
प्रत्युद्गमप्रश्रयणाभिवादनं
विधीयते साधु मिथ: सुमध्यमे ।
प्राज्ञै: परस्मै पुरुषाय चेतसा
गुहाशयायैव न देहमानिने ॥ २२ ॥
Verse text
pratyudgama-praśrayaṇābhivādanaṁ
vidhīyate sādhu mithaḥ sumadhyame
prājṣaiḥ parasmai puruṣāya cetasā
guhā-śayāyaiva na deha-mānine
Synonyms
pratyudgama
—
standing up from one’s seat
;
praśrayaṇa
—
welcoming
;
abhivādanam
—
obeisances
;
vidhīyate
—
are intended
;
sādhu
—
proper
;
mithaḥ
—
mutually
;
su
—
madhyame — my dear young wife
;
prājṣaiḥ
—
by the wise
;
parasmai
—
unto the Supreme
;
puruṣāya
—
unto the Supersoul
;
cetasā
—
with the intelligence
;
guhā
—
śayāya — sitting within the body
;
eva
—
certainly
;
na
—
not
;
deha
—
mānine — to the person identifying with the body .
Translation
My dear young wife, certainly friends and relatives offer mutual greetings by standing up, welcoming one another and offering obeisances. But those who are elevated to the transcendental platform, being intelligent, offer such respects to the Supersoul, who is sitting within the body, not to the person who identifies with the body.
Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)
O thin-waisted wife! Rising from one’s seat, acting affectionately and offering mutual respects should actually be done by the wise with the thought that one is offering respects to the Supreme Lord dwelling within that person, not thinking of the person’s body.
“I believe that you do not hate Dakṣa. However, you should rise from your seat and act humbly in front of your father-in-law.” The mutual exchange of greetings that are performed by ignorant people should be performed by intelligent people with their minds directed to the Supreme Lord. One should think “The Supreme Lord exists in my father-in-law and my husband. Therefore I offer respects to him.” One should not think of the bodies. The unintelligent people greet each other with bodily consciousness only, since they never remember the Supreme Lord. That is not proper. Because I was absorbed in the lotus feet of the Lord when Dakṣa arrived, even if I did not glance at Dakṣa, by my respect for the Lord, Dakṣa was respected. But Dakṣa is ignorant and became angry without cause.
Purport
It may be argued that since Dakṣa was the father-in-law of Lord Śiva, it was certainly the duty of Lord Śiva to offer him respect. In answer to that argument it is explained here that when a learned person stands up or offers obeisances in welcome, he offers respect to the Supersoul, who is sitting within everyone’s heart. Among Vaiṣṇavas, therefore, it is seen that even when a disciple offers obeisances to his spiritual master, the spiritual master immediately returns the obeisances because they are mutually offered not to the body but to the Supersoul. Therefore the spiritual master also offers respect to the Supersoul situated in the body of the disciple. The Lord says in
Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam
that offering respect to His devotee is more valuable than offering respect to Him. Devotees do not identify with the body, so offering respect to a Vaiṣṇava means offering respect to Viṣṇu. It is stated also that, as a matter of etiquette, as soon as one sees a Vaiṣṇava one must immediately offer him respect, indicating the Supersoul sitting within. A Vaiṣṇava sees the body as a temple of Viṣṇu. Since Lord Śiva had already offered respect to the Supersoul in Kṛṣṇa consciousness, offering respect to Dakṣa, who identified with his body, was already performed. There was no need to offer respect to his body, for that is not directed by any Vedic injunction.