सतां प्रसङ्गान्मम वीर्यसंविदो
भवन्ति हृत्कर्णरसायना: कथा: ।
तज्जोषणादाश्वपवर्गवर्त्मनि
श्रद्धा रतिर्भक्तिरनुक्रमिष्यति ॥
satāṁ prasaṅgān mama vīrya-saṁvido
bhavanti hṛt-karṇa-rasāyanāḥ kathāḥ |
taj-joṣaṇād āśv apavarga-vartmani
śraddhā ratir bhaktir anukramiṣyati ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 3.25.25)
“As a result of extensive association with sādhus, discussions [of me] become full perceptions of my potency and elixirs for the heart and the ears. By cherishing them, swiftly śraddhā, rati (bhāva), and bhakti (prema) to I who am the path to liberation will manifest in succession.”
Commentary
sat-saṅgasya bhakty-aṅgatām upapādayati—satām iti | vīryasya samyag vid vedanaṁ yāsu tā vīrya-saṁvidaḥ | hṛt-karṇayoḥ rasāyanāḥ sukhadāḥ | tāsāṁ joṣaṇāt sevanād apavargo’vidyā-nivṛttir vartma yasmiṁs tasmin harau | prathamaṁ śraddhā, tato ratis, tato bhaktir anukramiṣyati krameṇa bhaviṣyatīty arthaḥ |
(Bhāvārtha-dīpikā)
“He [i.e., Bhagavān Kapila] establishes association with the sat’s being a limb (aṅga) of bhakti: satāṁ … [i.e., he speaks this verse]. [Discussions become] Vīrya-saṁvidaḥ, that is, those in which there is full (saṁ—samyak) ‘perception’ (vit) of [my] ‘potency’ (vīrya), and ‘elixirs’ (rasāyaṇāḥ), that is, causes of delight, for the heart and the ears. ‘By cherishing’ (joṣaṇāt), that is, by honoring them, first śraddhā, then rati, and then bhakti to Hari—he because of whom the path of ‘liberation’ (apavarga), that is, the cessation of ignorance (avidyā), exists—will manifest in succession, that is, will come about sequentially. This is the meaning.”
vīryasya samyag-vedanaṁ yāsu tā vīrya-saṁvidaḥ | ata eva hṛt-karṇa-rasāyanāḥ sukhadāḥ | tāsāṁ joṣaṇāt sevanād apavargo’vidyā-nivṛttir mokṣo vā vartma yasmiṁs tasmin harau prathamaṁ śraddhā, tato ratis, tato bhaktir anukramiṣyati krameṇa bhaviṣyatīty arthaḥ | ratiś ca raty-ākhyo bhāvaḥ | bhaktiś ca prema-lakṣaṇā | etad-vivaraṇaṁ ca śrī-mahānubhāvair eva rasārṇave kṛtam asty eva |
(Dig-darśinī-ṭīkā on Hari-bhakti-vilāsa: 10.273)
“[Discussions become] Vīrya-saṁvidaḥ, that is, those in which there is full (saṁ—samyak) ‘perception’ (vit) of [my] ‘potency’ (vīrya). Thus, they become ‘elixirs’ (rasāyaṇāḥ), that is, causes of delight, for the heart and the ears. ‘By cherishing’ (joṣaṇāt), that is, by honoring them, first śraddhā, then rati, and then bhakti to Hari—he because of whom the path of ‘liberation’ (apavarga), that is, the cessation of ignorance (avidyā), or, mokṣa, exists—will manifest in succession, that is, will come about sequentially. This is the meaning. [The term] Rati, furthermore, means the bhāva known as rati. [The term] Bhakti, too, is of the nature of prema [i.e., it refers to prema-bhakti]. Explanation of this has aski been done in the Rasārṇava by one verily of revered and blessed profound understanding [i.e., in the Rasārṇava-sudhākāra of Siṁha Bhūpāla, an ancestor of Śrī Gosvāmīpāda].”
satām iti | rasāyanatvena prathamaṁ rucis, tatrāpi patitoddharaṇādi-carita-śravaṇena śraddhā viśvāsaḥ, tato rati-bhaktī, bhakteḥ pūrvāparāvasthe |
(Krama-sandarbha-ṭīkā)
“In satāṁ … [i.e., in SB 3.25.25], on account of [mention of discussions of Bhagavān] being elixirs (rasyāyaṇa), taste (ruci) [for such discussions] comes about first. In that regard also, śraddhā, that is, conviction (viśvāsa), comes about as a result of hearing the activities [of Śrī Bhagavān] such as [his] delivering of the fallen. Then rati and bhakti, that is, the prior and posterior states of bhakti [itself], come about.”
sādhu-saṅgata eva bhagavati mano ratiṁ vahatīty atra kramam āha—satām iti | saṅgaḥ prārthya iti pūrvokteḥ prathamaṁ śraddhā tataḥ satāṁ prakṛṣṭāt saṅgān mama kathā bhavantīty ādāv aprakṛṣṭāt saṅgād bhajana-kriyā-mātram, na tu kathāḥ | tataḥ prakṛṣṭāt saṅgād anartha-nivṛttikāḥ kathā bhavanti | tatas tā eva kathā niṣṭhām utpādayantyo mama vīryasya man-māhātmyasya saṁvit samyag vedanaṁ yatas tathābhūtā bhavanti | tato rucim utpādayantyo hṛt-karṇa-rasāyanā bhavanti | tatas tāsāṁ kathānāṁ joṣaṇāt prītyā āsvādanāt apavargo vartmany eva yasya tasmin bhagavati śraddhā āsaktiḥ ratir bhāvaḥ bhaktiḥ premā anukramiṣyati anukrameṇa bhaviṣyati | samprati mayā pravartyamānā bhaktir evam anukrameṇa loke pracarayiṣyatīty arthaḥ |
(Sārārtha-darśinī-ṭīkā)
“The mind bears rati for Bhagavān only as a result of sādhu-saṅga. Thus, here he [i.e., Bhagavān Kapila] describes the sequence [of this coming about]: satāṁ … [i.e., he speaks SB 3.25.25]. As per the prior statement [in the previous verse, SB 3.25.24,] that association [with the sat] is to be desired, first there is śraddhā [towards the sat], and then as a result of extensive association (prasaṅgāt) with the sat (satāṁ), discussions (kathāḥ) of me occur. Thus, at first, as a result of non-extensive association, there is only the activity of worship (bhajana-kriyā), and not, rather, discussions. Then, as a result of extensive association, discussions causing the cessation of anarthas occur. Then, those very discussions produce fixity (niṣṭhā) [in me, Śrī Bhagavān] and become such that as a result of them full perception (saṁvit) of my potency (vīrya), that is, my greatness, occurs. Then, they produce taste (ruci) and become elixirs (rasāyaṇās) for the heart and ears. Then, by cherishing (joṣaṇāt), that is, relishing with love (prīti), those discussions, śraddhā, meaning, attachment (āsakti), rati, meaning bhāva, and bhakti, meaning, prema, for Bhagavān—he on whose path alone [i.e., he only on the path to whom, or, he only on the path given by whom] liberation (apavarga) occurs—will manifest in succession, that is, will come about sequentially. [Thus,] The bhakti being propagated now by me will be spread [later] in the world in this same manner of succession [i.e., in the same aforementioned stages]. This is the meaning.”