पिबन्ति ये भगवत आत्मन: सतां
कथामृतं श्रवणपुटेषु सम्भृतम् ।
पुनन्ति ते विषयविदूषिताशयं
व्रजन्ति तच्चरणसरोरुहान्तिकम् ॥
pibanti ye bhagavata ātmanaḥ satāṁ
kathāmṛtaṁ śravaṇa-puṭeṣu sambhṛtam |
punanti te viṣaya-vidūṣitāśayaṁ
vrajanti tac-caraṇa-saroruhāntikam ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 2.2.37; cited in Hari-bhakti-vilāsa: 10.441; Dig-darśinī-ṭīkā on Bṛhad Bhāgavatāmṛta: 2.3.124; Paramātma Sandarbha: 108; Bhakti Sandarbha: 30, 86)
“Those who drink, held in the cups of their ears, the nectar of kathā about Bhagavān, the Ātmā of the sādhus, purify their hearts contaminated by viṣaya and reach the presence of his lotus feet.”
Commentary
satāṁ jñāninām ātmanaḥ ātmatvena prakāśamānasya yadvā satāṁ bhaktānām ātmanaḥ parama-priyasya śravaṇa-pūṭeṣu sambhṛtaṁ pibantīti sukham ādareṇa muhuḥ śṛṇvantīty arthaḥ | viṣayair vidūṣitaṁ malinī-kṛtam āśayam | yad vā viṣayair vidūṣita āśrayo yasya tam api punanti śodhayanti kim utātmānam kiñ ca tasya caraṇa-padmāntikaṁ śrī-vaikuṇṭha-lokaṁ vrajanti |
(Dig-darśinī-ṭīkā on Hari-bhakti-vilāsa: 10.441)
“‘The Ātmā of the sādhus’ (satāṁ ātmanaḥ) refers to the illuminator of the jñānīs on account of his [i.e., Bhagavān’s] being their [very] self (ātmā). Alternately, ‘the Ātmā of the sādhus’ (satāṁ ātmanaḥ) refers to the supreme beloved of the bhaktas. ‘They drink [nectar] held in the cups of their ears’ (śravaṇa-puṭeṣu sambhṛtam pibanti) means they continuously drink [this nectar] happily with careful attention. ‘They purify’ (punanti), that is, rectify, [their own] hearts contaminated, that is, made defiled, by viṣaya, or, [the phrase means they purify] even those [i.e., others] whose shelter is contaminated by viṣaya, what to speak of themselves. Furthermore, they reach ‘the presence of his lotus feet’ means [they reach] Śrī Vaikuṇṭhaloka.”
raty-utpattim eva śravaṇa-prādhānyena darśayan tan-mahima-parākāṣṭhām āha—pibantīti | satām ātmanaḥ prāṇeśvarasya | yad vā, vyadhikaraṇe ṣaṣṭhī satām ātmanaḥ svasya yo bhagavāṁs tasyety arthaḥ, teṣāṁ bhagavati svāmitvena mamatāspadatvāt |
(Excerpt from the Krama-sandarbha-ṭīkā and Paramātma Sandarbha: 108)
“This verse (pibanti …) shows the predominance of hearing in the manifestation of rati and the culmination of its greatness. ‘The Ātmā of the sādhus’ (satāṁ ātmanaḥ) refers to the Lord of their prāṇa [i.e., of their life, or, their heart]. Alternatively, if the sixth case has a different substratum, then ‘the Ātmā of the sādhus’ (satāṁ ātmanaḥ) means of Bhagavān, he who is one‘s own, because of Bhagavān being the object of their [i.e., the sādhus’] ‘my-ness’ [i.e., deep affection] on account of him being their Svāmī [i.e., master].”
prīty-ādi-catur-vidhāyā rateḥ sādhāraṇyenānubhāvam eva premṇaḥ vadan tat-phalam api darśayati—ātmanaḥ svasya yo bhagavān upāsyaḥ tasya nārāyaṇasya rāmasya kṛṣṇasya vā kṛṣṇasyāpi svīya-bhāvānurūpasya bālyasya paugaṇḍasya kiśorasya vā kathāmṛtaṁ, tādṛśasya tasya satāṁ bhaktānāṁ nāradādīnāṁ hanūmad-ādīnāṁ nandādīnāṁ śrīdāmādīnāṁ gopa-bālādīnāṁ ca kathāmṛtaṁ pibantīty anena tat-kartṝṇāṁ jāta-ratitvaṁ vyañjitaṁ, tathātve eva mādhuryopalambhena pāna-pada-prayoga-siddheḥ | ajāta-ratīnāṁ tu—tasmāt sarvātmanā ity anena śravaṇa-kīrtanādīni rateḥ sādhanāny uktāny eva | āśayam antaḥ-karaṇaṁ punanti kṣālayantīty ananusaṁhitaṁ phalaṁ, vrajanti sākṣāt sevitum ity anusaṁhitaṁ phalam … |
(Excerpt from the Sārārtha-darśinī-ṭīkā)
“Speaking of the anubhāva (experience) of prema within the four types of rati beginning with prīti [i.e., dāsya-, sakhya-, vātsalya-, and madhura-rati] with commonality [i.e., in terms of what is common to all of them], its effect is shown [in this verse]: they drink the nectar of kathā about their own (ātmanaḥ) Bhagavān, that is, [their own] object of worship (upāsya)—Nārāyaṇa, Rāma, or Kṛṣṇa, and [more specifically] the Kṛṣṇa befitting their own bhāva as a baby, boy, or adolescent—and [they drink] the nectar of kathā about the sādhus, that is, the bhaktas of him in particular [i.e., of their Iṣṭa-deva], such as Nārada and others [in the case of those who worship Nārāyaṇa], Hanumān and others [in the case of those who Rāma], Nanda and others [in the case of those who Kṛṣṇa as a baby], Śrīdāma and others [in the case of those who Kṛṣṇa as a boy], or the gopa-bālās [i.e., the gopīs] and others [in the case of those who Kṛṣṇa as an adolescent]. Thereby [i.e., by means of this described action of drinking], its agents [i.e., those doing the drinking] being persons in whom rati has manifest is suggested, because only as such, by way of their attainment of [Bhagavān’s] mādhurya, is the usage of the word ‘drinking’ fulfilled. But for those in whom rati has not manifest, the sādhanas for [attaining] rati, beginning with śravaṇa and kīrtana, are stated by the [the preceding] verse (SB 2.2.36), ‘Therefore, O King, Bhagavān Hari is to be heard about, to be praised, and to be remembered by human beings always and everywhere with the full self [i.e., will full attention].’ ‘They purify’ means they wipe clean the heart (āśayam), that is, the antaḥkaraṇa. This is the unsought [i.e., secondary] result. ‘They reach’ [the presence of his lotus feet] to serve [them] directly—this is the sought [i.e., primary] result.”