वयं तु न वितृप्याम उत्तमश्लोकविक्रमे ।
यच्छृण्वतां रसज्ञानां स्वादु स्वादु पदे पदे ॥
vayaṁ tu na vitṛpyāma uttama-śloka-vikrame |
yac chṛṇvatāṁ rasa-jñānāṁ svādu svādu pade pade ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 1.1.19)
“We, however, are not fully satiated with the prowess of he of the highest glory (Uttamaśloka) [i.e., Bhagavān Śrī Kṛṣṇa], which for listeners cognizant of rasa becomes sweeter and sweeter step by step [and moment by moment].”
Commentary
uttamaḥ sarva-śreṣṭhaḥ śloko yaśo yasya saḥ | yad vā, uttamaiḥ ślokyate kīrtyate iti | tasya vikrame tu viśeṣeṇa na tṛpyāma, alam iti na manyāmahe | tena yāga-yogādiṣu tṛptāḥ sma iti bhāvaḥ | yad vikramaṇaṁ śṛṇvatām | yad vā, anye tṛpyantu nāma, vayaṁ tu neti, tu-śabdasyānvayaḥ | ayam arthaḥ—tridhā hy alaṁ-buddhir bhavati | udarādi-bharaṇena vā, rasājñānena vā, svāda-viśeṣābhāvād vā | tatra śṛṇvatām ity anena śrotrasyākāśatvād vikramasya cāmūrtatvāt na bharaṇam | rasa-jñānām iti rasājñānena paśuvat tṛptir nirākṛtā | pade pade pratisupti-ṅantam eva prati-kṣaṇam eva vā svāduto’pi svādv iti carvitasya ikṣu-daṇḍāder iva na nīrasatvena heyatvaṁ pratyutātisvādutvena paramopādeyatvam iti |
(Excerpt from the Sārārtha-darśinī-ṭīkā)
“[Uttamaśloka means] He whose glory (śloka) is the highest of all (uttamaḥ), or, he who is glorified (ślokyate) by the highest (uttamaiḥ). We are not fully (vi) satiated (tṛpyāma) by [hearing of] his prowess, that is, we do not think, ‘[This is] sufficient [i.e., we never feel that we have heard enough; we always wish to hear more and have no interest in any other activity].’ Thus, ‘We have certainly become satiated with yāga, yoga, and so on’ is the purport. Alternately, others who hear of his prowess may be satiated, we, however (tu), are not!’ This is the syntactic connection of the word tu. The meaning is this: a sense of sufficiency (alam-buddhi) occurs in three ways: (1) because of filling up the belly or otherwise [i.e., because of filling up whatever space one has for something], (2) because of ignorance of rasa [i.e., because of ignorance of the value or means of appreciating something], and (3) because of the absence of a special type of sweetness [i.e., because something lacks outstanding aesthetic quality]. In this regard, because of this [word] ‘for listeners’ (śṛṇvatām), [it is understood that] there is no filling [up of the space to hold the substance, that is, no incidence of the first cause of a sense of sufficiency (alam-buddhi)] because of the spatiality of hearing [i.e., because the object of hearing is made of the space element] and the prowess [of Uttamaśloka] being formless [i.e., it taking up no physical space]. Because of [the compound] ‘for those cognizant of rasa’ (rasa-jñānām), satiation like that of an animal because of an ignorance of rasa [i.e., the second cause of a sense of sufficiency (alam-buddhi)] is negated. ‘Sweeter and even sweeter’ (svādu svādu) pade pade, that is, as an inflected verb, ‘step by step,’ or, [alternately,] ‘at every moment’—[by this the prowess of Uttamaśloka’s] not being fit to be abandoned because of [its] being tasteless like chewed sugarcane or other such things, and rather [its] being supremely worthy of being partaken of [continuously] because of [its] being extremely sweet [is indicated of and thus the third cause of a sense of sufficiency (alam-buddhi) is negated].”