हन्तास्मिन्जन्मनि भवान्मा मां द्रष्टुमिहार्हति ।
अविपक्वकषायाणां दुर्दर्शोऽहं कुयोगिनाम् ॥
सकृद्यद्दर्शितं रूपमेतत्कामाय तेऽनघ ।
मत्कामः शनकैः साधु सर्वान्मुञ्चति हृच्छयान् ॥
hantāsmin janmani bhavān mā māṁ draṣṭum ihārhati |
avipakva-kaṣāyāṇāṁ durdarśo’haṁ kuyoginām ||
sakṛd yad darśitaṁ rūpam etat kāmāya te’nagha |
mat-kāmaḥ śanakaiḥ sādhu sarvān muñcati hṛc-chayān ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 1.6.22–23)
“[Bhagavān as a disembodied voice to Śrī Nārada in his previous life after once giving him darśana:] Hanta! You will not be able to see me [again] in this life. I am imperceptible to immature yogīs, whose impurities are not burnt away. O sinless one! This form which was once shown [to you by me] was for the sake of your desire [i.e., to intensify your desire for me]. A sādhu with desire for me gradually gives up all that lie in the heart.”
Commentary
hanteti sānukampa-sambodhane | meti māṁ draṣṭuṁ nārhati | yato na vipakvā dagdhāḥ kasāyā malā kāmādayo yeṣāṁ, teṣāṁ kuyoginām aniṣpanna-yogānām | kutas tarhi dṛṣṭo’si? tatrāha—sakṛd darśitaṁ mayeti yad etat kāmāya mayy anurāgāya | tvat-kāmena kim? ity ata āha—mat-kāmaḥ pumān | hṛc-chayān kāmān |
(Bhāvārtha-dīpikā)
“Hanta is in the sense of a compassionate address. You will not be able to see me [again in this birth] since [I am imperceptible] to immature yogīs, that is, those whose [practice of] yoga is incomplete, meaning, those whose impurities (kaṣāyāḥ), that is, desires and so forth, have not been burnt away.
“[Śrī Nārada then asks Bhagavān:] ‘How then have you been seen [by me just now]?’ To that, he [i.e., Bhagavān] says this [form] which was once shown one by me [to you] was for the sake of your desire, that is, for the sake of [intensifying] your loving attachment (anurāga) to me. ‘What is the value of desire for you?’ [Śrī Nārada asks]. Thus, he [i.e., Bhagavān] says, ‘A person with desire for me … [gradually gives up all that lie in heart].’ ‘That lie in the heart’ (hṛc-chayān) refers to desires [i.e., a person with desire for Bhagavān gradually gives up all desires for everything other than Bhagavān].”
‘bhaktiḥ pravṛttātma-rajas-tamopahā’ ity uktatvāt | kaṣāyo’tra sāttviko vana-vāsādy-āgrahaḥ—‘vanaṁ tu sāttviko vāso grāmyo rājasa ucyate | tāmasaṁ dyūta-sadanaṁ man-niketaṁ tu nirguṇam ||’ ity ukteḥ |utkaṇṭhā-vardhanārthaṁ cedam | tathaivāha—sakṛd iti | yena kaṣāyā api naśyantīty āha—mat-kāma iti | hṛc-chayān anya-vāsanāḥ |
(Krama-sandarbha-ṭīkā)
“On account of the statement [earlier in SB 1.5.28 by Śrī Nārada regarding his experience in his past life after hearing Bhagavat-kathā from the sādhus he met], ‘Bhakti, because of which rajas and tamas diminish, manifested [in me],’ the impurity [referred to] here [in SB 1.6.22] is the sāttvika inclination towards residing in the forest and the like as per the statement [of Śrī Bhagavān in SB 11.25.25], ‘A forest dwelling is sāttvika, a village dwelling is rājasika, a gambling house is tāmasika, and an abode of myself is nirguṇa.’ This [statement of Śrī Bhagavān here in SB 1.6.22 and Śrī Bhagavān’s act of granting his bhakta darśana once in a lifetime] is also for the sake of increasing [his bhakta’s] yearning (uktaṇṭhā). Thus, he [i.e., Bhagavān] speaks this verse (sakṛd … ). [This form which Śrī Bhagavān showed Śrī Nārada is that] By which even impurities are destroyed [when it is seen even once]. Thus, he says, ‘One with desire for me … [gradually gives up all that lie in the heart].’ ‘That lie in the heart’ (hṛc-chayān) refers to other inclinations [i.e., inclinations for everything other than Śrī Bhagavān].”
kim āhety ata āha—hanteti sānukampā-sambodhanam | asmin janmani sādhaka-dehe mā iti māṁ draṣṭuṁ nārhati | na vipakvāḥ na dagdhāḥ kaṣāyā malāḥ kāmādayo yeṣāṁ teṣāṁ kuyoginām ahaṁ durdarśaḥ adṛśyaḥ, tubhyaṁ tu darśanaṁ dattam eveti tvaṁ tu kuyogī na bhavasīti bhāvaḥ | tarhi hā hā punar apy eka-vāraṁ darśanaṁ dehi! ity ata āha—sakṛd iti | etad eka-vāra-darśanaṁ te kāmāya tvan-manorathaṁ sādhayituṁ yogyam ity arthaḥ, na tu muhur darśanam | autkaṇṭhyasyānativṛddhyā premṇo’py anativṛddhas tasya tāruṇyaṁ na syād iti bhāvaḥ | ata eva jāta-premṇe bhaktāya sādhaka-dehe eka-vāram eva darśanaṁ dadāmīti mama niyamaḥ, yathā sādhaka-dehe bāla-bhūtaḥ premā viyogautkaṇṭhyena labdhātivṛddhiḥ siddha-dehe taruṇaḥ san svādhāraṁ bhaktaṁ muhur api māṁ darśayati, sākṣāt sevayati ceti sva-bhakta-manoratha-pūrti-prakāram aham eva jānāmi, na tu me svabhakta iti bhāvaḥ | mat-kāmaḥ—yo hi māṁ kāmayate mātraṁ mad-darśanālābhe’pīty arthaḥ | hṛc-chayān viṣaya-vāsanāḥ | atrāpi sarvān mokṣyasi hṛc-chayān ity anukter nāradaṁ prati nedaṁ vākyaṁ, kintu sva-bhakteḥ svabhāvaṁ taṁ jñāpayāmāsety evātra tattvam | sarvam idaṁ dainya-vardhanārtham ity eke |
(Sārārtha-darśinī-ṭīkā)
“[One may wonder:] What did he [i.e., Śrī Bhagavān] say [to Śrī Nārada at this time]? Thus, he [i.e., Śrī Nārada] speaks this verse. Hanta is in the sense of a compassionate address. [Śrī Bhagavān said:] You will not be able to see me [again] in this birth, that is, in the sādhaka-deha, since I am imperceptible (durdarśaḥ) to immature yogīs, that is, those who impurities (kaṣāyāḥ), that is, desires and so forth, have not been burnt away (vipakva). But darśana was certainly given [by me] to you, and thus, you certainly are not an immature yogī. This is the purport.
“Then, [Śrī Nārada then says to Śrī Bhagavān] ‘Hā! Hā! Please give me darśana one more time!’ Thus, he [i.e., Bhagavān] speaks this verse (sakṛd … ). This one time darśana [which I granted you] is for the sake of your desire, meaning, it is able to instill desire in you [for me], whereas repeated darśana is not. Prema too is not greatly intensified without a great intensity of yearning (aukaṇṭhya). Its [i.e., prema’s] youthfulness shall not come about [without such yearning]. This is the purport. Therefore, I give darśana only one time to a bhakta in whom prema has manifest in the sādhaka-deha. This is my rule, since infantile prema in the sādhaka-deha that has attained great intensity by virtue of the yearning produced by separation becomes youthful in the siddha-deha and causes its substratum, the bhakta, to see me repeatedly and serve [me] directly. Thus, only I know the way to fulfill the desires of my own bhaktas, whereas my own bhaktas do not [know how to fulfill their own desires for me and my service]. This is the purport. ‘One who with desire for me’ (mat-kāmaḥ) means one who desires me alone even when one does not attain darśana of me. ‘That lie in the heart’ (hṛc-chayān) refers to inclinations for objects of the senses (viṣaya). Here too, on account of not stating, ‘I will free you from all [the other desires] that lie in the heart,’ this statement [of Śrī Bhagavān, viz., ‘A sādhu with desire for me gradually gives up all that lie in the heart’] is not [made] to Nārada. Rather, that he [i.e., Bhagavān] made known to him [i.e., Nārada] the nature of bhakti to himself is the substance here [i.e., of Śrī Bhagavān statement in this regard]. According to some all of this [i.e., Śrī Bhagavān’s statement and his giving darśana to a bhakta only once in life] is for the purpose of increasing humility (dainya).”