नैवोपयन्त्यपचितिं कवयस्तवेश
ब्रह्मायुषापि कृतमृद्धमुद: स्मरन्त: ।
योऽन्तर्बहिस्तनुभृतामशुभं विधुन्वन्न
आचार्यचैत्त्यवपुषा स्वगतिं व्यनक्ति ॥
naivopayanty apacitiṁ kavayas taveśa
brahmāyuṣāpi kṛtam ṛddha-mudaḥ smarantaḥ |
yo’ntar bahis tanu-bhṛtām aśubhaṁ vidhunvann
ācārya-caittya-vapuṣā sva-gatiṁ vyanakti ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 11.29.6)
“[Uddhava to Kṛṣṇa:] O Lord, abounding with joy in remembering the feats [i.e., the unconditional favor] of you who with your external form as the ācārya and internal [form] situated in the citta dispel inauspiciousness and manifest your own shelter for embodied beings, the wise cannot proffer remuneration [i.e., clear their debt to you] even within the life-span of Brahmā [i.e., they can never sufficiently reciprocate with you even by serving you til the end of time].”
Commentary
āstām anya-bhajana-vārtā, tvat-kṛtopakārasya tvayy ātma-nivedanenaiva niṣkṛtir nānyathety āha—naiveti | apacitiṁ pratyupakāram ānṛṇyam iti yāvat | kavayo brahma-vido naiva prāpnuvanti | yataḥ tat-kṛtam upakāraṁ smarantaḥ | ṛddha-muda upacita-paramānandāḥ | upakāram evāha—yo bhavān bahir ācārya-vapuṣā guru-rūpeṇa, antaś ca caittya-vapuṣā antaryāmi-rūpeṇa, aśubhaṁ viṣaya-vāsanāṁ vidhunvan nirasyan sva-gatiṁ nijaṁ rūpaṁ prakaṭayati tasya tava |
(Bhāvārtha-dīpikā)
“‘Let alone mention of other worship [i.e., engaging in further worship of you], requital of the favor shown by you shall occur only by means of offering one’s self to you, and not otherwise.’ Thus [i.e., with this thought], he [i.e., Uddhava] says naiva … [i.e., he speaks this verse]. Abounding with joy (ṛddha-mudaḥ), that is, abounding with supreme bliss, remembering your accomplishment (kṛtam), that is, favor, ‘the wise’ (kavayaḥ), that is, even knowers of Brahman, do not attain acquittance, that is, requital, meaning specifically acquittal of debt [to you]. [In the second half of the verse] He describes the favor [shown by Śrī Bhagavān] specifically: you who with your external form as the ācārya, that is, form as the guru, and internal form situated in the citta, that is, form as the Inner Regulator (Antaryāmī), dispel (vidhunvan) inauspiciousness, that is, the inclination (vāsanā) towards objects of the senses (viṣaya), and manifest your own state, that is, your own form [i.e., you reveal yourself to your bhakta].”
nanu kathaṁ tat-tat-phalam api visṛjati na tu mām | kiṁ vā mama kṛtam? tatrāha—naiveti | he īśa! kavayaḥ sarvajñāḥ brahma-tulyāyuṣo’pi tat-kāla-paryantaṁ bhajanto’pīty arthaḥ | tava kṛtam upakāram ṛddha-muda upacita-tvad-bhakti-paramānandāḥ santaḥ smaranto’pacitiṁ pratyupakāram ānṛṇyam iti yāvat | tāṁ na upayanti paśyanti | tasmān ‘na visṛjed’ ity uktam | kṛtam āha—yo bhavān tanu-bhṛtāṁ tvat-kṛpā-bhājanatvena keṣāñcit saphala-tanu-dhāriṇāṁ bahir ācārya-vapuṣā guru-rūpeṇa, antaś caittya-vapuṣā citta-sphurita-dhyeyākāreṇa aśubhaṁ tvad-bhakti-pratiyogi sarvaṁ vidhunvan sva-gatiṁ svānubhavaṁ vyanakti iti |
(Krama-sandarbha-ṭīkā; Bhakti Sandarbha: 329)
“[Kṛṣṇa raises a question:] ‘Well, why does one reject even those results [i.e., the forms of worldly enjoyment and the mokṣa that I offer my worshipers], and not, rather, [reject] me? What have I done [to merit never being forsaken by my bhaktas, who instead forsake eveeything of the world and even mokṣa for the sake of attaining me]?’ To this, he [i.e., Uddhava] says naiva … [i.e., he speaks this verse]. O Īśa, ‘the wise’ (kavayaḥ), that is, the all-knowing, abounding with joy (ṛddha-mudaḥ), that is, abounding with the supreme bliss of bhakti to you, remembering your accomplishment (kṛtam), that is, favor [upon them], do not attain acquittance, that is, do not see [any possibility of] requital, meaning specifically acquittal of debt [to you], even within a life-span equal to Brahmā’s, meaning, even by worshiping [you] for that length of time. Thus, ‘no one can reject [you]’ was stated [in the previous verse, viz., SB 11.29.5]. [In the second half of the verse] He describes the accomplishment (kṛtam) [of Śrī Bhagavān which his bhaktas feel they can never repay]: you who with your external form as the ācārya, that is, form as the guru, and internal form situated in the citta, that is, form manifest in the citta that is able to be meditated upon, dispel inauspiciousness, that is, everything impeding of bhakti to you, and manifest your own state, that is, experience of yourself, for the embodied, that is, for some [among the embodied] who are successful bearers of a body by virtue of [their] being recipients of your grace.”
nanu māṁ bhajadbhya eva janebhyo vāñchita-samasta-puruṣārtha-pradatvān mama tat-tad-dānaṁ na nirupādhikaṁ, kintu sopādhikam eveti cen maivam | tac ca taiḥ kriyamāṇaṁ tvad-bhajanam api tvad-dattam evety ato nirupādhika-parama-hita-kāriṇas tava sahasra-mahākalpam abhivyāpyāpi paricaryayā janā naiva nirṛṇībhavituṁ śaknuvantīty āha—naiveti | apacitiṁ pratyupakāram ānṛṇyam iti yāvat | na upayanti na prāpnuvanti | kavayo vivekinaḥ | brahmāyuṣo’pi brahma-tulyam āyuḥ prāpya bhajanto’pīty arthaḥ | yatas tvat-kṛtam upakāraṁ smarantaḥ ṛddha-mudaḥ upacita-paramānandāḥ | upakāram evāha—yo bhavān bahir ācāryo mantra-guruḥ śikṣā-guruś ca tad-vapuṣā sva-mantra-sva-bhakty-upadeśenānugṛhṇan, antaś caittyo’ntaryāmī tad-vapuṣā—‘dadāmi buddhi-yogaṁ taṁ yena mām upayānti te’ iti tvad-ukteḥ | sva-prāpaka-buddhi-vṛttīḥ prerya sva-bhajanaṁ kārayan sva-gatiṁ premavat-pārṣadatva-lakṣaṇāṁ gatiṁ vyanakti |
(Sārārtha-darśinī-ṭīkā)
“If [Kṛṣṇa raises the objection], ‘Well, because of [my] being a bestower of all desired puruṣārthas only upon persons who worship me, my giving of those [puruṣārthas to them] is not unconditional, and, rather, is only conditional,’ [to that he says, ‘No,] ‘It is not like that.’ Even the worship of you being performed by them, furthermore, is only given [to them] by you. Thus, people certainly do not attain (upayanti) acquittance, that is, requital, meaning specifically acquittal of debt [to you], by means of attendant service to you, the unconditional Provisioner of supreme benefit [alt., of the highest good], spanning [i.e., continued for a duration of] even thousands of great kalpas. Thus, he [i.e., Uddhava] says naiva … [i.e., he speaks this verse]. Abounding with joy (ṛddha-mudaḥ), that is, abounding with supreme bliss, remembering your accomplishment (kṛtam), that is, favor, ‘the wise’ (kavayaḥ), that is, the discerning, do not attain acquittance, that is, requital, meaning specifically acquittal of debt [to you], even within the life-span of Brahmā, meaning, even by attaining a life-span equal to Brahmā’s and worshiping [you for the entire duration of that life-span]. [In the second half of the verse] He describes the favor [shown by Śrī Bhagavān] specifically: you who externally favor [the embodied] with instruction in the mantra related to yourself and bhakti to yourself in the form of the ācārya, that is, the mantra-guru and instructing (śikṣā) guru, and internally prompt functions (vṛttis) [i.e., cognitions] in the intellect that cause attainment of yourself, as per your statement [in Gītā 10.10], ‘I give that means of understanding (buddhi-yoga) by which they reach me,’ and [thus you] cause enactment of worship of yourself, and manifest your own state, that is, [you grant your worshipers] the state the nature of which is being an associate [of yours] possessed of prema.”
As per the points made in the Krama-sandarbha-ṭīkā and Sārārtha-darśinī-ṭīkā, Bhagavān’s external form of the ācārya refers to the guru, that is, the form or forms Bhagavān assumes to teach embodied beings about his own mantra and bhakti to him; the internal form situated in the citta (caittya) refers to Bhagavān’s aspect as the indwelling regulator (Antaryāmī) within the citta who inspires vṛttis in the buddhi that lead to engagement in bhakti and attainment of himself, and to the form of Bhagavān which becomes manifest and able to be meditated on within the citta. The “inauspiciousness” (aśubhaṁ) Bhagavān thereby dispels refers to all that is contrary to bhakti, and specifically, to all contrary vāsanās in the citta. That Bhagavān manifests his “own shelter” (sva-gatiṁ) means he manifests his own form, experience of himself, and the state of being his pārṣada endowed with prema.