Brihad Bhagavatamrita (commentary)
by Śrī Śrīmad Bhaktivedānta Nārāyana Gosvāmī Mahārāja | 2005 | 440,179 words | ISBN-13: 9781935428329
The Brihad-bhagavatamrita Verse 2.3.167, 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 2.3.167 contained in Chapter 3—Bhajana (loving service)—of Part two (prathama-khanda).
Verse 2.3.167
Sanskrit text, Unicode transliteration, Word-for-word and English translation of verse 2.3.167:
नाम्ना� तु सङ्कीर्तनम् अर्त�-भारान् मेघं विना प्रावृषि चातकानाम� �
रात्रौ वियोगात् स्�-पत� रथाङ्ग�-वर्गस्� चाक्रोषणवत� प्रतीहि � १६� �nāmnā� tu ṅkīٲԲ arti-bhārān megha� 屹ṛṣ ٲ峾 |
ٰ Dz sva-pate ٳṅg-ⲹ cākroṣaṇavat ī || 167 ||峾峾–o the holy names; tu–iԻ; ṅkīٲԲ–cԳپԲ; پ–from the weight of distress; megham–a cloud; –wٳdzܳ; 屹ṛṣ–in the monsoons; ٲ峾–o ٲ첹 birds; ٰ–at night; Dz–out of separation; -貹ٱ�–from their husband; ٳṅg-ⲹ–o ī birds; ca–aԻ; śԲ–c⾱Բ; vat–l; ī–you should know.
Just as the ٲ첹 bird calls out in grief in a cloudless rainy season, or the ī (ܰī) bird cries piteously at night in separation from her husband, so devotees perform ṅkīٲԲ of Śrī ṛṣṇa’s names when they are agitated by the distress of separation in love.
Commentary: Dig-darśinī-ṭīkā with Bhāvānuvāda
(By Śrīla Sanātana Gosvāmī himself including a deep purport of that commentary)
There is nothing, however, that compares with the special agony experienced in 峾-ṅkīٲԲ performed with pure love for the Lord. To explain this, the ղṇṭ ṣa岹 use examples in speaking this verse beginning with 峾峾. They say, “The ٲ첹 bird calls out in distress at the absence of clouds in the rainy season. The ī (ܰī) bird, separated from her husband, also piteously cries in grief for her beloved at night. Similarly, aggrieved by the pain of pure love for the Lord that arises from deep separation from Him, devotees perform 峾-ṅkīٲԲ.�
This narrative of the excellence of that topmost prema, which manifests in separation from the Lord, has been frequently told in the past and will be discussed again in the future. One should fully dedicate himself to sweetly and plaintively singing in proper sequence the names of and His glories; this indeed is the conclusion of all the scriptures. It is said: �siddhasya lakṣaṇam yat syāt sādhana� sādhakasya tat–The character of the perfected soul is indeed the goal of the practitioner’s discipline.� By this logic, the characteristic of perfection, meaning prema in the form of 峾-ṅkīٲԲ, is itself the goal of the practitioner’s practice, which is also 峾-ṅkīٲԲ.