तत्र भागवतान् धर्मान् शिक्षेद् गुर्वात्मदैवत: ।
अमाययानुवृत्त्या यैस्तुष्येदात्मात्मदोहरि: ॥
tatra bhāgavatān dharmān śikṣed gurv-ātma-daivataḥ |
amāyayānuvṛttyā yais tuṣyed ātmātmado hariḥ ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 11.3.22; cited in Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu: 1.2.98; Bhakti Sandarbha: 206)
“One for whom the guru is the Self (ātmā) and the Devatā should, through unaffected adherence, learn from him [viz., the guru] Bhāgavata-dharmas by which Hari, he who is the Self and the Bestower of himself, can be pleased.”
Commentary
atha śravaṇa-guru-bhajana-śikṣā-gurvoḥ prāyikam ekatvam iti tathaivāha—tatreti | ‘tasmād guruṁ prapadyeta’ iti pūrvoktes tatra śravaṇa-gurau | gurur eva ātmā jīvanaṁ daivataṁ nijeṣṭa-daivatatayābhimataś ca yasya tathā-bhūtaḥ san | amāyayā nirdambhayānuvṛttyā tad-anugatyā śikṣet | yair dharmaiḥ | ātmā sarva-mūla-rūpatvād asamordhvānanda-svarūpaḥ paramātmā ‘ānandād dhīmāni bhūtāni jāyante’ iti śruteḥ, tasyāpi dātā, bhaktebhya ātma-pradaḥ śrī-bali-prabhṛtibhya iva bhakti-sātkartā | asya śikṣā-guror bahutvam api prāgvaj jñeyam |
(Krama-sandarbha-ṭīkā; excerpt from Bhakti Sandarbha: 206)
“Then, there is usually a oneness of the guru from whom one hears (śravaṇa-guru) and the guru from whom one learns worship (bhajana-śikṣā-guru) [i.e., usually the same person acts as someone’s śravaṇa-guru and then bhajana-śikṣā-guru]. Thus, he [viz., Prabuddha Yogendra] states such specifically: tatra … [i.e., he speaks SB 11.3.22]. As per the prior statement [in SB 11.3.21], ‘Therefore, one should take shelter of a guru …,’ ‘from him’ (tatra) means from one’s śravaṇa-guru [i.e., SB 11.3.21 describes a student taking up study with a śravaṇa-guru, and SB 11.3.22 describes a student learning from a bhajana-śikṣā-guru; since the two verses speak of a student both learning [i.e., hearing] in general about the highest good and learning worship from the same guru, as is indicated by the use of the pronoun tatra at the beginning of SB 11.3.22, it is understood that the Śrīmad Bhāgavatam here suggests that generally the same guru will teach a student both the general nature of the highest good and the process of worship of Śrī Bhagavān]. Being one for whom the guru specifically is the self (ātmā), that is, [one’s very] life, and the Devatā (Daivatam), that is, considered to be one’s own Iṣṭa-devatā, one should learn through unaffected (amāyayā), that is, unpretentious, adherence (anuvṛttyā), that is, by following him [viz., the guru, Bhāgavata-dharmas]. ‘By which’ (yaiḥ) means by [those Bhāgavata-] dharmas [whereby Hari can be satisfied]. [Hari, furthermore, is] “The Self” (Ātmā), that is, the Supreme Self (Paramātmā), he whose essential nature is that of unequalled and unsurpassed bliss by virtue of being he whose form [alt., essential nature] is the root of everything, as per the Śruti [i.e., the statement in Taittirīya Upaniṣad 3.6.1], ‘Since from bliss specifically these entities are born.’ [Hari, furthermore, is also Ātmadaḥ] The Giver even of that [i.e., of the Self (Ātmā)], meaning, the Bestower of Self [i.e., Himself] upon bhaktas, that is, the Conveyor of bhakti upon those like Śrī Bali. The plurality of this guru from whom one learns [i.e., of the bhajana-śikṣā-guru from whom one learns worship, that is, Bhāgavata-dharmas] is also to be understood like the former [i.e., like the potential plurality of the śravaṇa-guru, meaning, as it is possible for a student to have a plurality of śravaṇa-gurus, so it is possible for a student to have a plurality of bhajana-śikṣā-gurus].”
tuṣyed ity asya dyotakam āha—ātmātmada ātmanaḥ svasya ātmānaṁ śrī-vigrahaṁ dadāti | draṣṭuṁ spraṣṭuṁ sākṣāt paricarituṁ ceti bhāvaḥ |
(Sārārtha-darśinī-ṭīkā)
“‘[Hari] Can be pleased’ (tuṣyed)—as an illustrator of this [statement], he [viz., Sage Prabuddha] says [Hari is] ‘He who gives the self (ātmā), that is, beautiful form (śrī-vigraha), of himself (ātmanaḥ). ‘To be seen, to be touched, and to be directly served’ is the purport [i.e., Hari extends a form of himself, that is, a deity form of himself, to one who learns Bhāgavata-dharmas from a guru so that this student can see, touch, and directly serve him].”
guru evātmā ātmavat priyaḥ, daivatam iṣṭa-devataś ca yasya tathābhūtaḥ | anuvṛttyā sevayā | yair dharmaiḥ, vastuta ātmā ātma-pradaś copāsakānāṁ yathā bali-prabhṛtīnām
(Bhakti-sāra-pradarśinī-ṭīkā on Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu)
“Being one for whom the guru specifically is the self (ātmā), that is, dear like the self, and the Devatā (Daivatam), that is, Iṣṭa-devatā, [one should learn] through adherence (anuvṛttyā), that is, service, [Bhāgavata-dharmas]. ‘By which’ (yaiḥ) means by [those Bhāgavata-] dharmas [whereby Hari can be satisfied]. [Hari, furthermore, is] In actuality, the Self (Ātmā) and the Bestower of himself for worshipers, such as Bali and others.”