नाहमिज्याप्रजातिभ्यां तपसोपशमेन वा ।
तुष्येयं सर्वभूतात्मा गुरुशुश्रूषया यथा ॥
nāham ijyā-prajātibhyāṁ tapasopaśamena vā |
tuṣyeyaṁ sarva-bhūtātmā guru-śuśrūṣayā yathā ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 10.80.34)
“I [Bhagavān], the Self of all beings, shall not be satisfied by sacrifice, higher birth [alt., procreation], austerity, or equilibrium as [I am] by service to the guru.”
Commentary
ata eva tad-bhajanād adhiko dharmaś ca nāstīty āha—nāham iti | ijyā gṛhastha-dharmaḥ, prajātiḥ prakṛṣṭa-janma upanayanam, tena brahmacāri-dharma upalakṣyate, tābhyāṁ, tathā tapasā vānaprastha-dharmeṇa, upaśamena yati-dharmeṇa vā, ahaṁ parameśvaras tathā na tuṣyeyaṁ yathā sarva-bhūtātmāpi guru-śuśrūṣayā |
(Bhāvārtha-dīpikā)
“And therefore, there is no dharma superior to service to him [viz., the guru]. Thus, he says nāham … [i.e., he speaks this verse]. Although I am the Self of all beings, I, the Supreme Īśvara, shall not be so satisfied by ‘sacrifice’ (ijyā), that is, the dharma of a gṛhastha, by ‘higher birth’ (prajāti), that is, the upanayana—hereby the dharma of a brahmacārī is indicated, by ‘austerity’ (tapasā), that is, the dharma of a vānaprastha, or by ‘equilibrium’ (upaśamena), that is, the dharma of an ascetic [i.e., sannyāsī], as I am by service to the guru.”
sarva-bhūtātmeti sarva-jīvānām antaryāmitvena teṣāṁ sevayā mat-santoṣa-sambhave’pi guru-sevayaiva tuṣyeyam | guror mad-bhakta-varatvāt sākṣād mad-rūpatvād veti bhāvaḥ |
(Bṛhad Vaiṣṇava-toṣaṇī-ṭīkā)
“In regard to [the mention of] ‘the Self of all beings’ (Sarva-bhūtātmā), even amid the occurrence of my satisfaction as a result of service to all jīvas on account of [my] being the Inner Regulator (Antaryāmī) of them, I shall be satisfied only by service to the guru because of the guru’s being the best of my bhaktas, or, because of [the guru’s] being a form of mine in person. This is the purport.”
sarva-bhūtātmeti sarva-bhūtānām antaryāmitvena teṣāṁ sevayā mat-santoṣa-sambhave’pi guru-sevayā tuṣyeyam ity atiśaya-vivakṣayā tāṁ vinānya-vaiyarthyāpatteś ca mad āveśena sākṣān-mad-rūpatvāt mad-bhaktavara-rūpatvāc ceti bhāvaḥ | anyat taiḥ | yad vā, ijyā mat-pūjā prajātir mad-dīkṣā tapo mat-samādhiḥ upaśamo man-niṣṭhā tair apīti kintv artha-dvayam idaṁ sva-dharma-bhagavad-dharmopadeṣṭṛtvena yathāyathaṁ guru-dvaya-tāratamye jñeyam |
(Laghu Vaiṣṇava-toṣaṇī-ṭīkā)
“‘The Self of all beings’ (Sarva-bhūtātmā) is [mentioned] with the predominant intention that even amid the occurrence of my satisfaction as a result of service to all jīvas on account of [my] being the Inner Regulator (Antaryāmī) of them, I shall be satisfied [only] by service to the guru because of the incidence of the futility of other things [e.g., the duties of the āśramas mentioned in this verse] without that [i.e., without service to the guru] because of [the guru’s] being a form of mine in person by virtue of [the guru’s] absorption in me [out of bhakti] and [the guru’s] being the best of my bhaktas. This is the purport. [The [meaning of] The rest [of the content in the verse] is as per him [i.e., is to be understood as Śrī Svāmīpāda has explained it], Alternately, [it can also be understood as follows,] ‘sacrifice’ (ijyā) refers to ritual worship of me. ‘Higher birth’ (prajāti) refers to dīkṣā related to me. ‘Austerity’ (tapasā) refers to samādhi upon me, and ‘equilibrium’ (upaśama) refers to fixity upon me. [Thus the meaning is that] Even by these [I shall not be satisfied as I am by service to the guru]. These two meanings [of the verse], however, are to be understood in regard to the gradation between the two [latter] gurus [mentioned in the previous verse] on account of [their] being teachers of svadharma and Bhagavad-dharma [i.e., one interpretation applies to the second guru mentioned in SB 10.80.32, that is, the giver of the upanayana-saṁskāra who teaches a disciple svadharma, that is, the duties of one’s varṇa and āśrama, and the other applies to the third guru mentioned therein, that is, the giver of knowledge related to Śrī Bhagavān, who teaches a disciple Bhagavad-dharma].”
atra jñānaṁ brahma-niṣṭhaṁ bhagavan-niṣṭhaṁ ceti dvividham | tatra pūrvatra tathaiva vyākhyā | uttaratra tv evam—ijyā pūjā | prajātir vaiṣṇava-dīkṣā | tapaḥ samādhiḥ | upaśamo bhagavan-niṣṭheti |
(Excerpt from Bhakti Sandarbha: 237)
“Here [i.e., in the context of the description of a guru as a giver of knowledge given in the previous verse, viz., SB 10.80.32], knowledge is of two types: related to Brahman and related to Bhagavān. In this regard, in the case of the former [viz., knowledge related to Brahman], the explanation is exactly in accord [with that given by Śrī Svāmīpāda]. In the case of the latter [viz., knowledge related to Bhagavān], however, it is as follows: ‘sacrifice’ (ijyā) refers to ritual worship [of Bhagavān]. ‘Higher birth’ (prajāti) refers to Vaiṣṇava-dīkṣā. ‘Austerity’ (tapasā) refers to samādhi, and ‘equilibrium’ (upaśama) refers to fixity in Bhagavān.”
tasmān mad-upadeṣṭā gurur evātiśayena śuśrūṣaṇīya ity āha—nāham iti | ijyā homo brahmacāri-dharmaḥ, prajātiḥ prajā putrotpādanaṁ gṛhastha-dharmaḥ, tābhyāṁ tapasā vanastha-dharmeṇa, upaśamena yati-dharmeṇa, vā ahaṁ parameśvaras tathā na tuṣyeyaṁ yathā sarva-bhūtānām ātmāpi guru-śuśrūṣayā |
(Sārārtha-darśinī-ṭīkā)
“Therefore, specifically the guru who is a teacher of me is to be served pre-eminently. Thus, he says nāham … [i.e., he speaks this verse]. Although I am the Self of all beings, I, the Supreme Īśvara, shall not be so satisfied by ‘sacrifice’ (ijyā), that is, fire sacrifice (homa), the dharma of a brahmacarī, by ‘procreation’ (prajāti), that is, producing sons, the dharma of a gṛhastha, by ‘austerity’ (tapasā), that is, the dharma of a vānaprastha, or by ‘equilibrium’ (upaśamena), that is, the dharma of an ascetic [i.e., sannyāsī], as I am by service to the guru.”