किं वर्णये तव विभो यदुदीरितोऽसु:
संस्पन्दते तमनु वाङ्मनइन्द्रियाणि ।
स्पन्दन्ति वै तनुभृतामजशर्वयोश्च
स्वस्याप्यथापि भजतामसि भावबन्धु: ॥
kiṁ varṇaye tava vibho yad-udīrito’suḥ
saṁspandate tam anu vāṅ-mana-indriyāṇi |
spandanti vai tanu-bhṛtām aja-śarvayoś ca
svasyāpy athāpi bhajatām asi bhāva-bandhuḥ ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 12.8.40)
“O Pre-eminent One, how do I praise you indeed by whom the life air is impelled and functions, and following that, the speech, minds, and senses function for the embodied, for Aja and Śarva [i.e., Brahmā and Śiva], for myself as well? Still, you are out of love the Friend of [your] worshipers.”
Commentary
antaryāmiṇas tasyaiva prāṇādi-pravartakatvād ātmanaḥ stutāv asvātantryaṁ paśyann āha—kim iti | … evaṁ yadyapi na kasyāpi svātantryam athāpi dāru-yantravat tvat-pravartitair api vāg-ādibhir bhajatāṁ puṁsāṁ bhāva-bandhur ātma-bandhur asi, na tu pitrādi-vad deha-mātra-bandhuḥ | aho kṛpālutā tavety arthaḥ |
(Excerpt from the Bhāvārtha-dīpikā)
“Seeing his own non-independence [even] in [the act of] praising [Bhagavān] on account of his—the Inner Regulator’s—being the impeller of the prāṇa and so forth, he says kim … [i.e., Mārkaṇḍeya Ṛṣi speaks this verse]. … Thus, although no one has independence [from you], still you are the Bhāva-bandhu, that is, the Friend of the self (ātma), of persons who are worshipers [of you] even with speech and so forth that is prompted by you like a wooden puppet, and not, rather, the friend just of [their] bodies like a father and so on. Aho! Your graciousness! This is the meaning.”
evaṁ bhakti-rūpāyās tac-chakter jīve’bhivyaktau bhagavān eva kāraṇam | tat-tad-indriyādi-pravṛttau ca sa eveti tasmiṁs tayā jīvasyopakārakābhāsatvam eva | tathāpi bhakty-anurajyad-ātmatve bhagavataḥ sva-kṛpā-prābalyam eva kāraṇam iti … he vibho! tava kim ahaṁ varṇaye tvat-kṛpālutāyāḥ kiyantam aṁśaṁ varṇayeyam ity arthaḥ | … evaṁ yadyapi na kvacid api kasyāpi svātantryam, tathāpi dāru-yantravat tvat-pravartitair api vāgādibhir bhajatāṁ puṁsāṁ bhāvena svadattayaiva prema-bhaktyā bandhuḥ snigdho’sīti |
(Excerpt from the Krama-sandarbha-ṭīkā; Bhakti Sandarbha: 144)
“In this way, Bhagavān alone is the cause in regard to manifestation in relation to a jīva of his own potency the form of which is bhakti [i.e., Bhagavān alone is the cause of any jīva attaining bhakti]. He alone is also [the cause] in regard to the activity of the various senses and so forth [of the jīva]. Thus, for him by that there is only a semblance of service [alt., favor, or, benefit] from the jīva [i.e., a jīva’s performing bhakti to Bhagavān after being given that bhakti by Bhagavān and being enabled to enact that bhakti with the senses and so forth by Bhagavān amounts only to a jīva offering a semblance of service to Bhagavān since it is not the jīva alone who is causing that bhakti to be performed]. Still, in regard to [Bhagavān’s] being of mind delighting in [that] bhakti [he receives in this way from the jīva], the abundance of Bhagavān’s own grace is alone the cause. … ‘O Pre-eminent One! How do I praise you?’ ‘How can I praise any fraction of your graciousness?’ is the meaning. … In this way [i.e., since you are the underlying cause of the functioning of everyone’s prāṇa, mind, senses, speech, and so forth], although there is no independence [from you, Bhagavān] for anyone anywhere, still you are a Friend (Bandhu) by virtue of bhāva of the persons who are worshipers [of you] even with speech and so forth that is prompted by you like a wooden puppet, that is, you are affectionate [to them] by virtue of the prema-bhakti given indeed by you yourself [to them].”
yadyapy evaṁ tathāpi bhajatāṁ janānāṁ bhāvena premnā bandhur bandhur iva vaśyo’si | prāṇa-buddhīndriyādibhis tvam eva sva-bhajanaṁ kārayasi punas tādṛśa-bhajanasya pratyupakāre’samartho ṛṇīva bhūtvā tat-prema-vaśyo bhavasīty adbhutaṁ tava kṛpā-vaibhavam iti bhāvaḥ |
(Excerpt from the Sārārtha-darśinī-ṭīkā)
“Although you are such [i.e., although you are the underlying cause of the functioning of everyone’s prāṇa, mind, senses, speech, and so forth], still of persons who are worshipers [of you], you are a Friend (Bandhu) out of bhāva, that is, prema—you are captivated [by them] like a friend. You yourself cause worship of yourself with [their] prāṇa, intellect, senses, and so forth, and then you become unable, like a debtor, to remunerate such worship [which they offer you] and so become captivated by their prema. Thus, the greatness of your grace is astonishing. This is the purport.”