Brihad Bhagavatamrita (commentary)
by Śī Śīmad Bhaktivedānta Nārāyana Gosvāmī Ѳrāja | 2005 | 440,179 words | ISBN-13: 9781935428329
The Brihad-bhagavatamrita Verse 2.2.186, English translation, including commentary (Dig-darshini-tika): an important Vaishnava text dealing with the importance of devotional service. The Brihad-bhagavatamrita, although an indepent Sanskrit work, covers the essential teachings of the Shrimad Bhagavatam (Bhagavata-purana). This is verse 2.2.186 contained in Chapter 2—Jnana (knowledge)—of Part two (prathama-khanda).
Verse 2.2.186
Sanskrit text, Unicode transliteration, Word-for-word and English translation of verse 2.2.186:
अतस् तस्माद� अभिन्नास� ते भिन्ना अप� सतां मताः �
मुक्तौ सत्यम् अप� प्रायो भेदस� तिष्ठेद् अत� हि सः � १८� �atas tasmād abhinnās te bhinnā api satā� � |
muktau satyam api prāyo bhedas tiṣṭhed ato hi � || 186 ||ٲ�–t; ٲ–from Him; Բ�–nDzԻ徱ڴڱԳ; te–t; Բ�–dڴڱԳ; api–a; 峾–of the devotees; �–cDzԲپDz; muktau–in a liberated state; ٲ峾–aٳܲ; api–a; ⲹ�–gԱ; 岹�–dڴڱԳ; پṣṭ–may remain; ٲ�–t; hi–cٲԱ; �–t.
Therefore, great personalities are of the opinion that because the ī and Parabrahman both have characteristics of -ԲԻ岹, they are nondifferent from one another, but because the ī are a portion of Parabrahman, they are also different. Even when the ī are liberated, as a rule, this difference remains.
Commentary: Dig-darśinī-ṭīkā with Bhāvānuvāda
(By Śīla Sanātana Gosvāmī himself including a deep purport of that commentary)
The پ-śٰ say, “The living being, or the ī, and Parabrahman, or the Supreme Brahman, are nondifferent from one another because they share the same nature–that of eternality, knowledge, and bliss. But as the ī is a part, or ṃśa, of Parabrahman, they are different also. This concept is illustrated in the three examples [from verse 184] of the sun and its rays, the fire and its sparks, and the ocean and its waves. The sun and its parts–its rays–are nondifferent in that they share radiance and other similar attributes. But unlike the sun, the rays are multifarious and diffusive. Therefore, the sun and its rays are different.
“This difference between the parts and the whole exists eternally. The significance of this example is that just as the sun has an inherent relationship with its rays, so the living beings have an integral relationship with the Lord. However, one cannot equate a ray of the sun with the sun itself. Rather, the sun is of a superior nature, and it is from the sun that rays emanate. Similarly, the Lord’s nature is superior to that of the living being.
“Ś� possesses an innate, inconceivable potency named ۴Dz-, who makes the impossible possible. By the effect of this potency, the simultaneous oneness and difference between and the living beings manifests. As rays emanate from the sun, all ī manifest from the Lord. The Lord and the ī are nondifferent from one another in that they are both conscious by nature, but since the ī are also parts (ṃśa) of , they are simultaneously different as well. It follows that this difference is eternal and continues even when the ī are liberated.�
Śī Śṅk峦ⲹ-岹 has stated, �ܰ api līlayā vigraha� kṛtvā bhagavanta� bhajanti–For the sake of performing pastimes, even liberated souls accept a body and worship Śī .� According to this statement, salvationists first attain the stage of īna-mukta, in which they remain in a material body but are free from identification with it. Later, at the stage of mukti, in which they no longer have bodies, some liberated ī, out of their own free will, accept bodies that are suitable for serving and thus worship Him.
The bhakti-śٰ continue, “In Śīmad-岵ٲ (6.14.5), Śī ʲīṣi says to Śī Śܰ첹𱹲:
मुक्तानाम् अप� सिद्धाना� नारायण-परायणः
सु-दुर्लभ� प्रशान्तात्म� कोटिष्व् अप� मह�-मुनेܰnām api siddhānā� nārāyaṇa-parāyaṇa�
su-durlabha� praśāntātmā koṭiṣv api mahā-muneO great sage, among millions of perfected and liberated souls, one may be devoted to Lord ⲹṇa. Such a devotee, who is completely peaceful, is rarely found.
“These words of the Ѳ-ʳܰṇa also establish the separate existence of Śī and the ī who is His servant. Otherwise, if one merges into Brahman at the time of liberation, who is there to accept a body as a pastime? Who is there to become devoted to ⲹṇa on the strength of bhakti? If the soul’s existence merges into Brahman forever, how can the separate identity of the liberated ī be explained?
“One might object that both the examples cited above apply to īna-mukta souls who are liberated even within their material bodies. However, this assumption is not correct because the salvationists, even in the īn-mukta stage, have bodies. Going back to the verse above, it can be asked, why did Śī Śṅk峦ⲹ-岹 use the words �vigraha� kṛtvā–upon accepting a body [they will perform worship of ]�? These words make no sense in relation to those īnmukta souls, who are liberated while still present in their bodies. Neither can one say that the stanza of Śīmad-岵ٲ, ܰnām api siddhānām, refers to the position of being īn-mukta.
“It is stated in the پ첹-ٳⲹ of the Padma ʳܰṇa: ‘There was a great sage in human form who merged into . Then he again became manifest in a form similar to that of Lord ⲹṇa.� The ṛh-ṃh ʳܰṇa, describing the vow of ṛsṃhٳܰ岹śī, tells of how a prostitute and a ṇa merged into . They then manifested again, the ṇa as ʰ岹 and the woman as his wife. There are many similar narrations of how liberated souls have again accepted bodies.�
In the original verse above, the significance of ⲹ�, meaning ‘for the most part� or ‘as a general rule,� is that, occasionally, by the desire of the Lord, some living beings attain Ծṇa, the extinction of the self, which is known as ⲹ liberation. Therefore, ⲹ� has been used to indirectly indicate Ծṇa.