SB 8.24.53

SB 8.24.53

Devanagari

त्वं त्वामहं देववरं वरेण्यं प्रपद्य ईशं प्रतिबोधनाय । छिन्ध्यर्थदीपैर्भगवन् वचोभि- र्ग्रन्थीन् हृदय्यान् विवृणु स्वमोक: ॥ ५३ ॥

Verse text

tvaṁ tvām ahaṁ deva-varaṁ vareṇyaṁ prapadya īśaṁ pratibodhanāya chindhy artha-dīpair bhagavan vacobhir granthīn hṛdayyān vivṛṇu svam okaḥ

Synonyms

tvam how exalted You are ; tvām unto You ; aham myself ; deva varam — worshiped by the demigods ; vareṇyam the greatest of all ; prapadye fully surrendering ; īśam unto the supreme controller ; pratibodhanāya for understanding the real purpose of life ; chindhi cut off ; artha dīpaiḥ — by the light of purposeful instruction ; bhagavan O Supreme Lord ; vacobhiḥ by Your words ; granthīn knots ; hṛdayyān fixed within the core of the heart ; vivṛṇu kindly explain ; svam okaḥ my destination in life .

Translation

O Supreme Lord, for self-realization I surrender unto You, who are worshiped by the demigods as the supreme controller of everything. By Your instructions, exposing life’s purpose, kindly cut the knot from the core of my heart and let me know the destination of my life.

Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)

I surrender to you, the Lord, the most worthy of praise, worshipped by the devatās, in order to awaken me from my sleep in māyā. O Lord! Please cut the knots in the heart by your words which reveal the highest truth. Please describe the method to attain Vaikuṇṭha. My ignorance having been destroyed by the mercy of your devotees, I see you alone as the goal. That is expressed in this verse. Pratibodhanāya (unto you who cause awakening) indicates “Please wake me up since I am sleeping in the bed of saṁsāra.” Cut the knots in the heart by words which reveal the spiritual truth (artha-dīpaiḥ). Speak about the path for attaining Vaikuṇṭha (svam okaḥ).

Purport

Sometimes it is argued that people do not know who is a spiritual master and that finding a spiritual master from whom to get enlightenment in regard to the destination of life is very difficult. To answer all these questions, King Satyavrata shows us the way to accept the Supreme Personality of Godhead as the real spiritual master. The Supreme Lord has given full directions in Bhagavad-gītā about how to deal with everything in this material world and how to return home, back to Godhead. Therefore, one should not be misled by so-called gurus who are rascals and fools. Rather, one should directly see the Supreme Personality of Godhead as the guru or instructor. It is difficult, however, to understand Bhagavad-gītā without the help of the guru. Therefore the guru appears in the paramparā system. In Bhagavad-gītā (4.34) the Supreme Personality of Godhead recommends: tad viddhi praṇipātena paripraśnena sevayā upadekṣyanti te jṣānaṁ jṣāninas tattva-darśinaḥ “Just try to learn the truth by approaching a spiritual master. Inquire from him submissively and render service unto him. The self-realized soul can impart knowledge unto you because he has seen the truth.” Lord Kṛṣṇa directly instructed Arjuna. Arjuna is therefore tattva-darśī or guru. Arjuna accepted the Supreme Personality of Godhead ( paraṁ brahma paraṁ dhāma pavitraṁ paramaṁ bhavān ). Similarly, following in the footsteps of Śrī Arjuna, who is a personal devotee of the Lord, one should accept the supremacy of Lord Kṛṣṇa, as supported by Vyāsa, Devala, Asita, Nārada and later by the ācāryas Rāmānujācārya, Madhvācārya, Nimbārka and Viṣṇu Svāmī and still later by the greatest ācārya, Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu. Where, then, is the difficulty in finding a guru ? If one is sincere he can find the guru and learn everything. One should take lessons from the guru and find out the goal of life. Mahārāja Satyavrata, therefore, shows us the way of the mahājana. Mahājano yena gataḥ sa panthāḥ . One should surrender to the Supreme Personality of Godhead ( daśāvatāra ) and learn from Him about the spiritual world and the goal of life.