Brihad Bhagavatamrita (commentary)
by Śī Śīmad Bhaktivedānta Nārāyana Gosvāmī Mahārāja | 2005 | 440,179 words | ISBN-13: 9781935428329
The Brihad-bhagavatamrita Verse 1.7.137-138, 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 1.7.137-138 contained in Chapter 7—Purna (pinnacle of excellent devotees)—of Part one (prathama-khanda).
Verse 1.7.137-138
Sanskrit text, Unicode transliteration, Word-for-word and English translation of verse 1.7.137-138:
प्रयाग-तीर्थम� आरभ्� भ्रामं भ्रामम� इतस् तत� �
अत्रागत्� � ये दृष्टा� श्रुताश् � भवता मुने � १३� �
सर्व� समस्�-सर्वार्थ� जगन्-निस्तारकाश� � ते �
मत�-कृपा-विषयाः किञ्चित् तारतम्यं श्रिता� परम् � १३� �岵-īٳm ārabhya bhrāma� bhrāmam itas tata� |
atrāgatya ca ye dṛṣṭāḥ śrutāś ca bhavatā mune || 137 ||
sarve samasta-sarvārthā jagan-nistārakāś ca te |
mat-kṛpā-viṣayā� kiñcit tāratamya� śritā� param || 138 ||O best of sages, all the devotees you saw and heard from while wandering from ʰ岵-īٳ to here have attained complete perfection. All are recipients of My mercy and are capable of delivering the entire world. Nevertheless, there are degrees of gradation and nuances of perfection amongst them.
Commentary: Dig-darśinī-ṭīkā with Bhāvānuvāda
(By Śīla Sanātana Gosvāmī himself including a deep purport of that commentary)
Now you have yourself directly experienced the nature of My mercy, bhakti and prema. He is narrating this in two and half śǰ첹 with 岵. All the devotees you have seen starting from the ʰ岵 īٳ, while wandering to many places within and outside the ṇḍ, until coming to this ٱ in the end, and the accounts of the ṇṭ-ī and vraja-ī you have heard, they all have received their desired object completely. Therefore, they are capable of delivering the whole world. The reason is that they all are recipients of My mercy.
Then the question comes that they must all be alike, yet I have seen many gradations of differences. In reply, Śī said, “This is true, still there is a little gradation among them due to the differences in their innate nature (svabhava) of bhakti. In other words, they all are recipients of My mercy, but inferior and superior ecstacies are seen among them; this 屹 is progressively superior from the beginning to the end.
Therefore, all those devotees who you conversed with since the beginning of your travels from ʰ岵 īٳ until ٱ, the devotees appearing later in the order, are superior in comparison to the devotees appearing earlier. According to this thought, the DZī such as parama ī Śī and other DZī are superior from the viewpoint of bhakti-tattva—this should be the understanding. Although there is gradation like this, still all of them have achieved their desired goals completely as the ultimate wealth of their respective happiness in their individual rasas. In this connection, a detailed commentary will be given later in this Part Two called Śī Goloka ٳⲹ.