Devanagari
तं त्वामहं ज्ञानघनं स्वभाव-
प्रध्वस्तमायागुणभेदमोहै: ।
सनन्दनाद्यैर्मुनिभिर्विभाव्यं
कथं विमूढ: परिभावयामि ॥ २३ ॥
Verse text
taṁ tvāṁ ahaṁ jṣāna-ghanaṁ svabhāva-
pradhvasta-māyā-guṇa-bheda-mohaiḥ
sanandanādyair munibhir vibhāvyaṁ
kathaṁ vimūḍhaḥ paribhāvayāmi
Synonyms
tam
—
that personality
;
tvām
—
unto You
;
aham
—
I
;
jṣāna
—
ghanam — Your Lordship, who are concentrated knowledge
;
svabhāva
—
by spiritual nature
;
pradhvasta
—
free from contamination
;
māyā
—
guṇa — caused by the three modes of material nature
;
bheda
—
mohaiḥ — by exhibition of the bewilderment of differentiation
;
sanandana
—
ādyaiḥ — by such personalities as the four Kumāras (Sanat-kumāra, Sanaka, Sanandana and Sanātana)
;
munibhiḥ
—
by such great sages
;
vibhāvyam
—
worshipable
;
katham
—
how
;
vimūḍhaḥ
—
being fooled by the material nature
;
paribhāvayāmi
—
can I think of You .
Translation
O my Lord, sages freed from the influence of the three modes of material nature — sages such as the four Kumāras [Sanat, Sanaka, Sanandana and Sanātana] — are able to think of You, who are concentrated knowledge. But how can an ignorant person like me think of You?
Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)
How can I, so bewildered, think of you, who are concentrated knowledge, who are realized naturally by sages like Sananda who have destroyed illusion and the conception of difference caused by the guṇas of māyā?
Naturally, not by sādhana, the sages have destroyed illusion and difference arising from the guṇas of māyā.
;
Purport
The word
svabhāva
refers to one’s own spiritual nature or original constitutional position. When situated in this original position, the living entity is unaffected by the modes of material nature.
Sa guṇān samatītyaitān brahma-bhūyāya kalpate
(
Bg. 14.26
). As soon as one is freed from the influence of the three modes of material nature, he is situated on the Brahman platform. Vivid examples of personalities thus situated are the four Kumāras and Nārada. Such authorities can by nature understand the position of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, but a conditioned soul not freed from the influence of material nature is unable to realize the Supreme. In
Bhagavad-gītā
(2.45)
, therefore, Kṛṣṇa advises Arjuna,
traiguṇya-viṣayā vedā nistraiguṇyo bhavārjuna:
one must rise above the influence of the three modes of material nature. One who stays within the influence of the three material modes is unable to understand the Supreme Personality of Godhead.