तत्तेऽनुकम्पां सुसमीक्षमाणो
भुञ्जान एवात्मकृतं विपाकम् ।
हृद्वाग्वपुर्भिर्विदधन्नमस्ते
जीवेत यो मुक्तिपदे स दायभाक् ॥
tat te’nukampāṁ susamīkṣamāṇo
bhuñjāna evātma-kṛtaṁ vipākam |
hṛd-vāg-vapurbhir vidadhan namas te
jīveta yo mukti-pade sa dāya-bhāk ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 10.14.8)
“One who can live earnestly desiring to see your compassion, enduring self-created reactions, and offering obeisance unto you with mind, speech, and body is an heir to the abode of mukti [i.e., liberation from saṁsāra and service to Śrī Bhagavān’s feet].”
[Translated according to a reading given in the Bṛhad Vaiṣṇava-toṣaṇī-ṭīkā:] “One who can live earnestly expecting your compassion, enduring self-created reactions, and offering obeisance unto you becomes intent upon giving [to others] by mind, speech, or body the abode of mukti [i.e., mokṣa, Mahākālapura, the abode of Vaikuṇṭha, the lotus feet of Vaikuṇṭhanātha, or prema for him].”
Commentary
tasmād bhaktir eva saṅgacchata ity āha—tat te’nukampām iti | susamīkṣamāṇas tava kṛpā kadā bhaviṣyatīti bahumanyamānaḥ, svārjitaṁ ca karma-phalam anāsaktaḥ san bhuñjāna eva, nātīva-tapa-ādinā kliśyann evaṁ yo jīveta sa muktau dāya-bhāg bhavati | bhaktasya jīvana-vyatirekeṇa dāya-prāptāv iva muktau nānyad upayujyata iti bhāvaḥ |
(Bhāvārtha-dīpikā)
“Therefore [i.e., because Śrī Bhagavān is self-endowed with inestimable qualities and descends to the earth for the well-being of all], bhakti alone is appropriate [i.e., is the path to be followed]. Thus, he speaks this verse (tat te’nukampām …). Earnestly desiring to see [your compassion], that is, frequently thinking [of your compassion, such that a continuous longing is felt], ‘When will your grace come [upon me]?’, remaining detached while indeed enduring the results of self-earned karma and not becoming distressed by severe hardship and so forth—one who can live in this way becomes a heir [lit., ‘one who possesses an inheritance’] to mukti. As in regard to attaining an inheritance, nothing else is required for a bhakta except living [i.e., remaining alive] in regard to [attaining] mukti [i.e., a bhakta is sure to attain mukti if he simply lives as described in the verse]. This is the purport.”
susamīkṣamāṇaḥ suṣṭhv-apekṣamāṇaḥ | eva-śabdo yathāpekṣam agre’py anuvartanīyaḥ | ātmanā kṛtam arjitam ity avaśya-bhogyatoktā | atas tatra sukha-duḥkhādikaṁ na mantavyam iti bhāvaḥ | vipākaṁ vividha-karma-phalam | hṛd-vāg-vapurbhir namo vidadhad iti tatraivāsaktiḥ kāryā, nānyatreti bhāvaḥ | mukti-padaṁ mokṣo mahākālapūraṁ vā | yad vā, mukti-rūpaṁ padaṁ śrī-vaikuṇṭhākhyaṁ sthānaṁ pādābjaṁ vā | yad vā, a-kāra-praśleṣeṇa na muktir bhaktānāṁ yasmāt | yan māhātmyāmṛtārṇava-nimajjanena muktir lavaṇāmbu-kaṇavat tucchīkriyate | tasmin pade pādābje tat-prema-lakṣaṇe vā dāyo dānam, tad-bhāk tad-dātā bhavatīty arthaḥ | hṛd-vāg-vapurbhir ity asyātraiva vānvayaḥ | tataś ca hṛdā dāya-bhāk saṅkalpa-mātreṇaivānyebhyo mukti-padaṁ dadāti, tathā vacana-mātreṇa deha-sparśanādinā cety ūhyam |
(Bṛhad Vaiṣṇava-toṣaṇī-ṭīkā)
“‘Earnestly desiring to see’ (susamīkṣamāṇaḥ) means earnestly expecting [alt., looking for, or, waiting for, your compassion]. The word eva is to be supplied ahead as well where required. ‘Self-created’ (ātma-kṛtam) means earned. Thus, being necessary to be endured is stated. Therefore, happiness, distress, and so forth are not be thought of therein [i.e., one should not consider one’s experience of enduring them to be happiness, distress, or otherwise, but rather simply a compulsory experience]. This is the purport. ‘Reactions’ (vipākam) means various results of karma. Regarding, ‘Offering obeisance with the mind, speech, and the body’ (hṛd-vāg-vapurbhir vidadhan namas), attachment (āsakti) is to be fostered therein and not otherwise [i.e., obeisance are to be offered with devotional attachment and not with any other bhāva, such as one of obligation or fear]. This is the purport. Mukti-padam refers to mokṣa or to Mahākālapura [i.e., the abode of Mahāviṣṇu]. Alternately, [it refers] to the abode that form of which is mukti, that is, the place or the lotus feet known as Śrī Vaikuṇṭha. Alternately, since there is no mukti [i.e., sāyujya-mukti] for bhaktas, with a coalescence of an ‘a’ [in the compound dāya-bhāk, that is, in the case of reading the text to be adāya-bhāk instead of dāya-bhāk by means of dropping of the ‘a’ from the beginning of dāya-bhāk under the assumption that it was elided because of the presence of the ‘e‘ at the end of pade], [it refers] to the feet (pade), that is, the lotus feet, of he by submersion in the ocean the nectar of whose glory mukti is trivialized like a drop of salt water, or, to the property of prema for him. Dāya means giving (dāna), and a one intent upon (bhāk) that means one becomes a giver of that [i.e., of mukti-pade, meaning, of mokṣa, Mahākālapura, the abode of Vaikuṇṭha, the lotus feet of Vaikuṇṭhanātha, or prema for him]. This is the meaning. Or the syntactic connection (anvaya) of ‘with mind, speech, and body’ (hṛd-vāg-vapurbhiḥ) is here only, and thus, the one intent upon giving (dāya-bhāk) gives mukti-pada to others with the mind (hṛdā), that is, just by a resolve (saṅkalpa) alone, and also just by a statement, and just by a touch of the body and so on. Such is to be inferred.”
tat ta iti | eva-śabdo yathāpekṣyam agre’py anuvartanīyaḥ | ātmanā kṛtam arjitam ity avaśya-bhogyatoktā | atas tatra sukha-duḥkhādikam amanyamāna ity arthaḥ | vipākaṁ vividha-karma-phalam | ‘pureha bhūmann’ ity-ādi-rītyā tad-vidha-kathayābhirucitī-kṛtāya te tubhyaṁ hṛd-vāg-vapurbhir namo vidadhad iti tatra tv āsaktiṁ kurvann iti bhāvaḥ | upalakṣaṇaṁ caitad dainyātmakasya bhaktāntarasya | mukti-nāmakaṁ padaṁ caraṇāravindam, ‘yenāpavargākhyam adabhra-buddhiḥ,’ ‘bheje khagendra-dhvaja-pāda-mūlam’ iti prathame | yad vā, ‘atra sargo visargaś ca’ ity ādau navama-padārtha-rūpāyā mukter api pade āśraye daśama-padārtha-rūpe | ‘daśame daśamaṁ lakṣyaṁ‘ ity-ādi-nirṇīte tvayi sa dāya-bhāk bhavati, bhrātṛ-vaṇṭana iva tvam eva tasya dāyatvena vartase, ato varākyā mukter vā kā vārtety arthaḥ | atra tad-vyākhyāyāṁ nānyad iti buddhi-pauruṣādikaṁ niṣiddhaṁ, tad vināpi jīvataḥ putrasya dāya-prāpteḥ, atrāpi jīvatvaṁ bhakti-mārga-sthitatvaṁ jñeyam | ‘dṛtaya iva śvasanty asu-bhṛtaḥ’ ity-ādy-ukteḥ |
(Laghu Vaiṣṇava-toṣaṇī-ṭīkā)
“In this verse (tat te … ), the word eva is to be supplied ahead as well where required. ‘Self-created’ (ātma-kṛtam) means earned. Thus, being necessary to be endured is stated. Therefore, happiness, distress, and so forth are not be thought of therein [i.e., one should not consider one’s experience of enduring them to be happiness, distress, or otherwise, but rather simply a compulsory experience]. This is the meaning. ‘Reactions’ (vipākam) means various results of karma. ‘Offering obeisance with the mind, speech, and the body’ (hṛd-vāg-vapurbhir vidadhan namas) means fostering attachment (āsakti) therein [i.e., as one offers obeisance] unto you (te), who were made relishable by discussion (kathā) of the type in the process [described in] in SB 10.14.5 and elsewhere. This is the purport. This [i.e., offering obeisance] is also an indicator (upalakṣaṇa) of other forms of bhakti constituted of humility (dainya). [Mukti-pade means] The feet (pada), that is, lotus feet, known as mukti [i.e., mukti-pade refers to Śrī Bhagavān’s lotus feet, which are in an of themselves called mukti because bhakti to them leads to mukti], as in the First [Canto, i.e., SB 1.18.16], ‘He of abounding intellect attained the soles of the feet of he whose emblem is the king of birds [i.e., Garuḍa], which are known as liberation (apavarga).’ Alternately, as per atra sargo visargaś ca [i.e., the list of the ten subjects of Śrīmad Bhāgavatam given in SB 2.10.1] and so forth [i.e., and other verses dealing with this subject], [mukti-pade means] the feet (pade), that is, the tenth subject [of Śrīmad Bhāgavatam], the shelter of even mukti, the ninth subject [of Śrīmad Bhāgavatam]. One [who can live as described in the verse] becomes an heir (dāya-bhāk) to you who are ascertained in daśame daśamaṁ lakṣyaṁ [i.e., in Bhāvārtha-dīpikā 10.1.1] and elsewhere [as the tenth subject of Śrīmad Bhāgavatam], that is, like a share among nearest relatives [of a departed person’s wealth], you exist as his inheritance [i.e., the inheritance of one who acts as described in the verse, that is, you become thoroughly captivated by him by virtue of his bhakti]. Therefore, what is to be said of lowly mukti? This is the meaning. In this regard, by ‘nothing else’ in his [i.e., Śrī Śrīdhara Svāmīpāda’s] commentary [i.e., by Śrī Śrīdhara Svāmīpāda’s statement that nothing other than living is required for one to acquire one’s inheritance], intellect, heroism [alt., exertion, or, strength], and so forth are checked [i.e., are shown to not be independently viable means of attaining Śrī Bhagavān], since a son’s attainment of [his] inheritance occurs [just] by living even without them [i.e., intellect and so forth]. Here as well, being alive is to be understood to be being situated on the path of bhakti, as per statement such as [SB 10.87.17], ‘If a living being has no bhakti to you, it breaths like a bellows [i.e., its life has no real meaning, and thus such a living being’s breathing is no different than the apparent breathing of an insentient bellows].’”
Śrī Jīva Gosvāmī also comments in Bhakti Sandarbha (303) that mukti-pade can also be taken to mean the complete [manifestation of] Bhagavān who is the object (pade) of prema (mukti), since the word mukti is understood to mean prema as per SB 5.19.19–20 (yad vā, muktir iha pañcama-stha-gadyānusāreṇa premaiva, tat-pade tad-viṣaye paripūrṇa-bhagaval-lakṣaṇe). He further comments:
tat te ity atra susamīkṣamāṇaḥ pratīkṣamāṇaḥ iti ṭīkā | yad vā, prati-kṣaṇaṁ nirupādhi-kṛpayaiva prabhuṇā tathā tathā kriyamāṇām anukampāṁ suṣṭhu-rūpām īkṣamāṇas tatrānandībhavan tāṁ samyak paśyan vibhāvayan, tathā hṛdā, yad vā vācā, yad vā vapuṣā namo vidadhaj jana ity-ādi vyākhyā jñeyā |
(Bhakti Sandarbha: 303)
“Here in [the verse] tat te …, earnestly desiring to see (susamīkṣamāṇaḥ) means hoping for [alt., awaiting] (pratīkṣaṇamāṇaḥ) [your compassion] according to the commentary [of Śrī Śrīdhara Svāmīpāda]. Alternately, this explanation is to be understood: a person who rightly sees the compassion being shown in such and such manner [i.e., through all the various reactions to one’s past actions] by Prabhu solely out of unconditional grace at every moment, becomes delighted therein [i.e., in those karmic reactions], fully perceiving and ascertaining that [i.e., that compassion coming through one’s karmic actions], and offering obeisance [to Bhagavān] with the mind, or speech, and or the body [becomes an heir to Śrī Bhagavān, the ultimate shelter of mukti and ultimate object of prema].”
tad evam anyaṁ sarva-sādhanaṁ parityajya bhaktim eva kurvaṁs tvāṁ labhate iti prakaraṇārtho’vagatas tatra kīdṛśaḥ san kuryād ity apekṣāyām āha—tat te iti | yasmād evaṁ tat tasmād ātma-kṛtaṁ vipākaṁ “dharmasya hy āpavargasya nārtho’rthāyopakalpate” ity atra pratipādayitaṁ bhakter apy ananusaṁhitaṁ phalaṁ sukhaṁ, tad-aparādha-phalaṁ duḥkhaṁ ca bhuñjāna eva taṁ tavānukampāṁ suṣṭhu-samyag-īkṣamāṇaḥ samaye prāptaṁ sukhaṁ duḥkhaṁ ca bhagavad-anukampādi-phalam evedam iti jānan, pitā yathā sva-putraṁ samaye samaye dugdhaṁ nimba-rasaṁ ca kṛpayaiva pāyayati, āśliṣya cumbati pāṇi-talena praharati cety evaṁ mama hitāhitaṁ putrasya piteva mat-prabhur eva jānāti na tv ahaṁ, mayi tvad-bhakte nāsti kāla-karmādīnāṁ keṣām apy adhikāra iti sa eva kṛpayā sukha-duḥkhe bhojayati ca svaṁ sevayati ceti vimṛśya, “yathā cared bāla-hitaṁ pitā svayaṁ tathā tvam evārhasi naḥ samīhitum” iti pṛthur iva pratyahaṁ bhagavantaṁ vijñāpayan hṛd-ādibhir namaskurvan nātīva kliṣyan yo jīveta sa muktiś ca padaṁ ca tayor dvandvaikyaṁ tasmin saṁsārān muktau tvac-caraṇa-sevāyāṁ cety ānuṣaṅgika-mukhya-phalayor dāya-bhāg bhavati, yathā putrasya dāya-prāptau jīvanam eva kāraṇaṁ tathā bhaktasya jīvanaṁ tac ceha bhakti-mārge sthitir eva “dṛtaya iva śvasanty asu-bhṛto yadi te’nuvidhā” ity ukter iti bhāvaḥ |
(Sārārtha-darśinī-ṭīkā)
“‘By completely forsaking all other sādhanas in this way and engaging only in bhakti, one attains you’—this has been understood as the significance of the section [i.e., of the aforesaid verses spoken by Brahmā]. In expectation in this regard [of the question], ‘How should one do this [i.e., engage in bhakti]?’ Brahmā speaks this verse (tat te’nukampāṁ …). Therefore (tat), that is, because this is so [i.e., because one should engage in bhakti], as one endures self-created reactions (bhuñjāna evātma-kṛtaṁ vipākam), that is, the happiness that is presented as an unsought result even of bhakti as per [the statement in Śrīmad Bhāgavatam 1.2.9], ‘Artha (wealth) cannot be the attainment (artha) of the followers of āpavarga-dharma [i.e., dharma that leads to an eternal, otherworldly attainment], and kāma [i.e., enjoyment] of wealth is not considered the attainment by such exclusive followers of [that] dharma,’ and the hardship that is a result of aparādha against that [i.e., against bhakti], one sees that [i.e., such happiness and hardship] fully and earnestly as your grace, that is, one knows, ‘This happiness and hardship undergone in [the course of] time is simply the result of the grace and so forth of Bhagavān.’ As a father from time to time graciously feeds his son milk and [at other times] neem juice, and as he [from time to time] embraces and kisses him, and [at other times] strikes him with the palm of his hand, so, one considers, ‘Like a father for his son, my Prabhu alone certainly knows what is good and not good for me, while I do not. Time, karma, and so forth—nothing at all [i.e., nothing of the world of māyā]—has any jurisdiction (adhikāra) over me, [since I am] your bhakta; thus he alone [i.e., Bhagavān] graciously causes me to experience happiness and hardship [i.e., it is not that the happiness and hardship I undergo in life are caused by time, or karma, or otherwise], and [he alone] causes me to engage in service to himself.’ One who [while seeing and thinking as aforementioned] can daily pray to Bhagavān like Pṛthu, ‘As a father should personally act for the benefit of his son, so it is befitting for you to take action for me,’ offer obeisance [to Bhagavān] with one’s mind and so forth, and live on without becoming greatly distressed, becomes an heir to the inheritance of mukti and pada, that is, in the case of their oneness in a dual compound: the auxiliary and primary attainments [i.e., results of bhakti in the form] of mukti from saṁsāra and service to your feet. As a son’s simply living is the cause of [him] attaining his inheritance, so a bhakta’s living, that is, his being situated here on the path of bhakti, is that as well [i.e., is the cause of a bhakta’s attainment of mukti and Bhagavad-sevā], as per the statement [in SB 10.87.17], ‘If a living being has no bhakti to you, it breaths like a bellows [i.e., a living being who does not engage in bhakti is qualitatively not even living, as such a living being’s life has no meaning, and thus such a living being’s breathing is no different than the apparent breathing of an insentient bellows].’ This is the purport.”
tasmāj jñāne prayāsaṁ hitvā bhaktir eva yathā-śakti kāryety āha—tad iti | te anukampā kadā syād iti suṣṭhu samīkṣamāṇaḥ, ātma-kṛtaṁ svārjitaṁ vipākaṁ karma-phalaṁ sukha-duḥkhaṁ svāminaiva pāyasa-nimba-rasaṁ pitreva hitecchunā dattaṁ bhuñjāna eva hradādibhir namo vidadhat kurvan vrttādibhir nātīva kliśyan yo jīveta sat-sampradāye tiṣṭhet, sa muktiś ca padaṁ ca tayor dvandvaikyaṁ tasmin mokṣe tad-aṅghri-sevane ca dāya-bhāk | jīvann eva hi pituḥ sampattau dāyaṁ bhajen nājīvann eva vedokta-tad-bhakti-vartmani tiṣṭhaṁs tad-aṅghri-dāya-bhāk nānya iti bhāvaḥ |
(Vaiṣṇavānandinī-ṭīkā of Baladeva Vidyābhūṣaṇa)
“Therefore, having given up endeavor for jñāna, bhakti alone is to be performed as per one’s ability. Thus, he [i.e., Brahmā] speaks this verse (tat …). One who can live, that is, can remain in a genuine sampradāya, earnestly desiring to see [Bhagavān’s compassion], ‘When will your compassion come [upon me]?’, indeed enduring self-created reactions, that is, the self-earned results of one’s karma, meaning, the happiness and distress given by Svāmī [i.e., the Lord] himself [in response to one’s actions] out of desire for one’s benefit like the pudding and neem juice [given] by a father, and offering obeisance with one’s mind and so forth, all the while not becoming greatly distressed by one’s occupation and so forth, is an heir to mukti and pada, that is, in the case of their oneness in a dual compound, to mokṣa and the service of his [i.e., Bhagavān’s] feet. As one can attain one’s inheritance to one’s father’s wealth only by living and not be not living [i.e., one cannot attain it if one does not remain alive], so one is an heir to his feet by remaining on the path of bhakti to him described in the Veda and not otherwise. This is the purport.”