इह सम्बन्धितत्त्वं ब्रह्मानन्दादपि प्रकृष्टो रुचिरलीलावशिष्टः श्रीमानजित एव । स च पूर्णत्वेन मुख्यतया श्रीकृष्णसंज्ञ एवेति श्रीबादरायणसमाधौ व्यक्तीभविष्यति । तथा प्रयोजनाख्यः पुरुषार्थश्च तादृशतदासक्तिजनकं तल्लीलाश्रवणादिलक्षणं तद्भजनमेवेत्यायातम् ।
iha sambandhi-tattvaṁ brahmānandād api prakṛṣṭo rucira-līlā-vaśiṣṭaḥ śrīmān ajita eva | sa ca pūrṇatvena mukhyatayā śrī-kṛṣṇa-saṁjña eveti śrī-bādarāyaṇa-samādhau vyaktībhaviṣyati | tathā prayojanākhyaḥ puruṣārthaś ca tādṛśa-tad-āsakti-janakaṁ tal-līlā-śravaṇādi-lakṣaṇaṁ tad-bhajanam evety āyātam |
(Tattva Sandarbha: 29)
“Here [i.e., in this text], the sambandhi-tattva [i.e., the subject, lit., ‘the entity bearing a relation (sambandha) [with the text],’ meaning, the entity related to through the text] is Śrīman Ajita [i.e., Śrī Bhagavān], who is possessed of relishable līlā and superior even to the bliss of Brahman. That he, furthermore, is known primarily as Śrī Kṛṣṇa by virtue of completeness [i.e., by virtue of the completeness he manifests only in his aspect known as Śrī Kṛṣṇa] will be clarified in [the forthcoming discussion of] Śrī Bādarāyaṇa’s samādhi. So also, the puruṣārtha [i.e., ‘object of a human being’], known as the prayojana [i.e., aim], and worship of him [i.e., the abhidheya], the characteristic of which is hearing and so forth of his līlā that produces such attachment (āsakti) to him [i.e., that leads to attainment of the prayojana, namely, prema for him] are understood.”
Commentary
atha yasya brahmeti padyoktaṁ sambandhi-kṛṣṇa-tattvam, tad-bhakti-lakṣaṇam abhidheyam, tat-prema-lakṣaṇaṁ pumarthaṁ ca nirūpatayā padyena tāvad granthaṁ pravartayan granthakṛd avatārayati |
(Śrī Baladeva Vidyābhūṣaṇapāda’s ṭīkā on Tattva Sandarbha)
“Now, after first beginning this text with a verse ascertaining (1) the sambandhi-tattva, Kṛṣṇa, (2) the abhidheya, the characteristic of which is bhakti to him, and (3) the puruṣārtha, the characteristic of which is prema for him, that is, [with] the stated verse yasya Brahmeti [in Tattva Sandarbha 8], the author commences [his discussion of prameya, that is, his explanation of these primary topics].”
A later commentator on Tattva Sandarbha named Rādhā Mohana Gosvāmī further glosses the term sambandhi-tattvam as śrī-bhāgavata-pratipādya-tattvam, that is, the entity to be explained by Śrīmad Bhāgavatam.