विचित्रलीलारससागरस्य
प्रभोर्विचित्रात्स्फुरितात्प्रसादात् ।
विचित्रसङ्कीर्तनमाधुरी सा
न तु स्वयत्नादिति साधु सिध्येत् ॥
vicitra-līlā-rasa-sāgarasya
prabhor vicitrāt sphuritāt prasādāt |
vicitra-saṅkīrtana-mādhurī sā
na tu sva-yatnād iti sādhu sidhyet ||
(Bṛhad Bhāgavatāmṛta: 2.3.168)
“That variegated sweetness of saṅkīrtana can be truly attained [only] by the manifest, variegated grace of Prabhu [i.e., Bhagavān], the ocean of variegated līlā-rasa, and not, rather, by one’s own exertion.”
Commentary
nanu tathā sphuṭa-kīrtane vighna-śaṅkā-loka-pūjādi-doṣo’śaktir api śarīra-daurbalyādinā kadācit sambhavati, na tu kenāpy alakṣyamāṇe’nāyāsenāntaś-cintane? tatrāhuḥ—vicitreti | sā ukta-prakārā vicitrā vividhā bhagavan-nāma-saṅkīrtanasya mādhurī prabhor bhagavato vicitrāt prasādād dhetoḥ sphuritā āvirbhūtā, na tu sva-yatnāt nija-pauruṣeṇa | vicitratve hetuḥ—vicitrāṇāṁ līlā-rasānāṁ sāgarasya ity ato hetoḥ sādhu samyak sidhyet | bhagavat-prasāda-prāpte’rthe vighna-doṣādy-asambhavāt | etac ca navasv api bhakti-prakāreṣu samam evety ūhyam |
(Dig-darśinī-ṭīkā)
“[An objection may be raised:] ‘Well, in such open kīrtana [i.e., if one performs nāma-saṅkīrtana aloud, crying with heartache as aforementioned], apprehension regarding obstructions [i.e., concerns regarding obstacles arising and obstructing such performance of kīrtana], the detriments of worship from people and so forth [i.e., detriments such as becoming an object of people’s worship (by attracting their attention and admiration through the kīrtana)], and inability on account of weakness of the body and so forth [e.g., disease, etc.] can sometimes occur, but such is not so whatsoever in unseen, non-troublesome internal contemplation [i.e., if one instead of kīrtana engages in readily practicable private meditation, there are no such drawbacks; therefore, what need is there to perform observable kīrtana?]. To this [objection], this verse is spoken (vicitra …). That (sā) aforementioned type of variegated (vicitrā) sweetness of the saṅkīrtana of Bhagavān’s names becomes manifest as a result of Bhagavān’s (Prabhoḥ) variegated grace, and not by one’s own exertion, that is, by one’s own virility. The cause of the variegatedness [of the sweetness of nāma-saṅkīrtana] is that Bhagavān is an ocean of variegated līlā-rasas. Therefore, by virtue of this cause, it [i.e., the variegatedness of the sweetness of such saṅkīrtana] can be truly (sādhu), that is, fully, attained, given the impossibility of obstructions, detriments, and so forth [arising] in [connection with] an object attained by Bhagavān’s grace [i.e., there can be no obstructions to or detriments arising from nāma-saṅkīrtana that is manifested directly by Bhagavān’s grace (though this is not necessarily the case with saṅkīrtana performed by one’s own exertion in the absence of such directly manifest grace)]. It should be inferred that this [potentiality] is also the same in regard to the nine types of bhakti as well [i.e., no obstructions, detriments, and so forth can arise in the performance of any limb of bhakti that is manifest directly from Bhagavān’s grace, but obstructions, detriments, and so forth may arise in the case of performing limbs of bhakti predominantly by one’s own exertion in the absence of such direct grace].”