त्वं भक्तियोगपरिभावितहृत्सरोज
आस्से श्रुतेक्षितपथो ननु नाथ पुंसाम् ।
यद्यद्धिया त उरुगाय विभावयन्ति
तत्तद्वपुः प्रणयसे सदनुग्रहाय ॥
tvaṁ bhakti-yoga-paribhāvita-hṛt-saroja
āsse śrutekṣita-patho nanu nātha puṁsām |
yad yad dhiyā ta urugāya vibhāvayanti
tat tad vapuḥ praṇayase sad-anugrahāya ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 3.9.11; cited in Hari-bhakti-vilāsa: 7.383; Bhagavat Sandarbha: 6, 40; Caitanya-caritāmṛta: 1.3.111)
“[Brahmā to Śrī Bhagavān:] O Nātha! You, he the path to whom is seen by hearing, dwell in the lotus-hearts of living beings that have been purified by bhakti-yoga [alt., that have been made fit (for you) by virtue of prema]. O you of highest praise! [Alt., O you who are sung of in many ways!] Out of favor upon the sat, you bring forth that very form of yours which they distinctively meditate on [alt., visualize] with the mind.”
Commentary
tad evam abhaktānāṁ saṁsāram anivṛttim uktvā, bhaktānāṁ tan-nivṛttim āha—tvam iti | bhakti-yogena śodhite hṛt-saroje āsse tiṣṭhasi | śrutena śravaṇenekṣitaḥ panthā yasya | kiṁ ca, śravaṇaṁ vināpi tvad-bhaktā manasā yad yat tava vapūr rūpaṁ svecchayā dhyāyanti, tat tat praṇayase prakaṭayasi | satāṁ bhaktānām anugrahāya |
(Bhāvārtha-dīpikā)
“Thus, in this way, having described the non-cessation of saṁsāra for non-bhaktas, he describes the cessation thereof for bhaktas: tvam … [i.e., he speaks this verse]. You dwell (āsse) in the lotus of the heart purified by bhakti-yoga. [You are he] The path to whom is seen by hearing. Furthermore, even without [their engaging in] hearing, you bring forth (praṇayase), that is, manifest, that particular form (vapuḥ) of yours (te) which your bhaktas meditate on by their own wish (vibhāvayanti) out of favor upon the sat, that is, [your] bhaktas.”
bhaktānāṁ tu tvaṁ vaśa evety aparaṁ kiṁ vaktavyaṁ? ity āha—tvam iti | bhakti-yogo’tra premā, paribhāvitatvaṁ yogyatām āpāditatvam | śrutaṁ bhagavat-pratipādaka-veda-vaidika-śāstra-vicāra-śravaṇam | tarhi mad-rūpa-viśeṣāvirbhāve kiṁ kāraṇaṁ? tatrāha—yad yad iti | dhiyā śrutenaiva labdhena buddhi-viśeṣeṇa, te pūrvoktāḥ śrutekṣita-tat-pathaḥ pumāṁso yad yad vibhāvayanti, tat tad vapuḥ praṇayase prakarṣeṇa tat-samīpe nayasi prakaṭayasīty arthaḥ | nanu īśvaro’haṁ katham evaṁ teṣāṁ vaśaḥ syāṁ? tatrāha—sad-anugrahāya | satsu teṣv anugraha eva tava vaśatve kāraṇam, nānyad iti bhāvaḥ | nanu śruta-mātreṇa mama kathaṁ bahūnāṁ rūpāṇāṁ jñānaṁ syāt? tad-abhāve ca katham ekatara-tan-niṣṭhā syāt? tatrāha—he urugāyeti | vedena tvam urudhaiva gīyasa iti sva-sva-maty-anusāreṇa sā syād iti bhāvaḥ |
(Krama-sandarbha-ṭīkā)
“You are verily under the control of [your] bhaktas. What more is to be said? Thus, he says tvam … [i.e., he speaks this verse]. Here, bhakti-yoga means prema. Being paribhāvita means being brought to the state of being fit [i.e., the sense is, ‘You dwell in the lotus-hearts of living beings that have been made fit (for you) by virtue of prema’]. ‘Hearing’ (śruta) refers to hearing deliberation on the Vedas and the Vedic śāstras that explain Bhagavān. [In this regard, Bhagavān may ask:] Then, what is the cause in regard to the manifestation of a particular form of mine [in a heart of a bhakta made fit for me as aforesaid]? In this regard, he says yad yad … [i.e., he speaks the second half of the verse]. You bring forth (praṇayase), that is, draw greatly near to them [i.e., to such persons], meaning, you manifest [to them], that particular form (vapuḥ) of yours (te), the path to whom is seen by hearing, as aforementioned, which persons visualize (vibhāvayanti) ‘with the mind’ (dhiyā), that is, with a specific understanding attained only by means of hearing [śāstra that describes you as aforementioned].
“[Śrī Bhagavān may then ask:] ‘Well, I am Īśvara. How shall I become controlled by them in this way?’ To that, he says, ‘Out of favor upon the sat’ (sad-anugrahāya). The cause of your being controlled is only your favor upon them, the sat, and not anything else. This is the purport.
“[Śrī Bhagavān may then ask:] ‘Well, how can knowledge of many forms of mine come about only by hearing? And in the absence of that, how can fixity upon one among them come about?’ To that, he says, ‘O you who are sung of in many ways!’ (Urugāya) You are sung about in many ways by the Veda [and thereby knowledge of many of your forms is aquired]. Thus, that [fixity of your bhaktas upon one specific form of yours] shall come about in accord with their own respective [personal] inclination (mati) [towards a specific form of yours]. This is the purport.”
praṇayase prakarṣeṇa nayasi prakaṭayasi, ‘śruteksita-pathaḥ’ ity anena kalpanāyā nirastatvāt | sarva-rūpatve’pi bhaktānabhirucita-rūpatve’pavādaḥ śrī-kardama-vākyena—‘tāny eva te’bhirūpāṇi rūpāṇi bhagavaṁs tava | yāni yāni ca rocante sva-janānām arūpiṇaḥ ||’ yāni yāni ca tvadīya-svabhaktebhyo rocante, tāni | kāny eva tava rūpāṇi? te tava abhirūpāṇi yogyāni, nānyānīty arthaḥ |
(Excerpt from Bhagavat Sandarbha: 40)
“You bring forth (praṇayase)’ means draw out in full, that is, manifest [forms that are already existent] because of imagination’s [i.e., the idea that someone could just imagine Bhagavān to have any sort of form at all] being refuted by this phrase śruteksita-pathaḥ [i.e., ‘he the path to whom is seen by hearing’]. Even while being possessed of all forms, a negation (apavāda) in regard to [Bhagavān’s] being possessed of a form unliked by bhaktas [is made] by means of a statement of Śrī Kardama [in SB 3.24.31], ‘O Bhagavān! Those very forms of you, who have no [material] form, which are pleasing to persons who are your own, are approved by you.’ Only those particular forms of yours which are also pleasing to your own bhaktas are suitable, that is, apt, for you, and not others. This is the meaning.”
bhaktās tu jñānaṁ vināpi saṁsāraṁ nistarantīti kiṁ vaktavyam, yato bhaktyā tvām apy adhīnīkurvantīty āha—bhakti-yogena pari sarvato-bhāvena bhāvite vāsite ‘bhāvitaṁ vāsitaṁ triṣu’ ity amaraḥ | yad vā, he bhakti-yoga-paribhāvita! bhakti-yogenaiva pari sarvato-bhāvena bhāvitaḥ prakaṭī-kṛto bhavater nyastān niṣṭhayā bhakti-yoga eva tvat-prakaṭībhavanasya prayojakaḥ syād ity arthaḥ | ata eva teṣāṁ hṛt-saroje āsse upaviśya tiṣṭhasi, na tato niḥsarasi ‘nāpaiṣi nātha’ iti pūrvokteḥ | ādau guru-mukhāt śrutaḥ, paścād īkṣitaḥ sākṣāt-kṛtaś ca panthā yasya saḥ | yena pathā tvaṁ hṛt-sarojam āyāto’si taṁ panthānaṁ sādhana-bhakti-prakāraṁ, ata eva suṣṭhu paricinvantīti dhvaniḥ | ato yasya tvat-prāptīcchā vartate, sa tata eva panthānaṁ paricinotv ity anudhvaniḥ | kiṁ ca, śravaṇaṁ vināpi tvad-bhaktā manasā yad yad vapuḥ rūpaṁ svecchayā dhyāyanti, tat tat praṇayase prakaṭayasi iti svāmi-caraṇāḥ | yad vā, te sādhaka-bhaktāḥ sva-sva-bhāvānurūpaṁ yad yad dhiyā bhāvayanti, tat tad eva vapus teṣāṁ siddha-dehaṁ praṇayase prakarṣeṇa tān prāpayasi | aho te sva-bhakta-pāravaśyam iti bhāvaḥ |
(Sārārtha-darśinī-ṭīkā)
“‘Bhaktas, however, cross over saṁsāra even without jñāna. Thus, what [more] is to be said, since they make even you submissive by means of bhakti [to you].’ Thus, he says, ‘Completely (pari) infused (bhāvite) with bhakti-yoga,’ as [the word] bhāvita means infused (vāsita) in all three [genders] according to Amara [i.e., the Amara-kośa, and thus the meaning can be construed as follows: you dwell in the lotus-hearts of living beings that are fully infused with bhakti-yoga]. Alternately, [the meaning can be taken as follows when bhakti-yoga-paribhāvita is read to not be in compound with hṛt-saroja:] O Bhakti-yoga-paribhāvita! O you who are fully (pari) manifested (bhāvita) only by bhakti-yoga! Bhakti-yoga alone shall be the engaging agent (prayojaka) of your becoming manifest as per the past participle suffix applied to [the verb] bhavati. Therefore, you dwell (āsse), that is, remain sitting, in the lotus of their hearts, and you do not leave from there, as per the previous statement [in SB 3.9.5], ‘O Nātha, you do not withdraw from the lotus-hearts of your own persons [i.e., bhaktas].’ [You are] He the path to whom is first heard about from the mouth of the guru and then seen, that is, directly perceived. Thus, the implication (dhvani) is that they [i.e., your bhaktas] aptly contemplate that path, that is, mode of sādhana-bhakti, by which you arrive in the lotus of the heart. So, the consequent implication (anudhvani) is that one who has the desire to attain you should contemplate this path only therefrom [i.e., only after hearing about it from the guru or another who has aptly contemplated it]. Furthermore, Svāmīcaraṇa [i.e., Śrī Śrīdhara Svāmīpāda has commented]: even without [their engaging in] hearing, you bring forth (praṇayase), that is, manifest, that particular form (vapuḥ) of yours (te) which your bhaktas meditate on by their own wish (vibhāvayanti) out of favor upon the sat, that is, [your] bhaktas. Alternately, you bring forth (praṇayase), that is, cause them—sādhaka-bhaktas—to attain in full, that specific form which they meditate meditate on with the mind in accord with their own personal bhāva [during the process of sādhana], that is, [you cause them to attain in full] their siddha-deha. Aho! [Such is] Your subjection to your own bhaktas! This is the purport.”