य: स्वानुभावमखिलश्रुतिसारमेक-
मध्यात्मदीपमतितितीर्षतां तमोऽन्धम् ।
संसारिणां करुणयाह पुराणगुह्यं
तं व्याससूनुमुपयामि गुरुं मुनीनाम् ॥
yaḥ svānubhāvam akhila-śruti-sāram ekam
adhyātma-dīpam atititīrṣatāṁ tamo’ndham |
saṁsāriṇāṁ karuṇayāha purāṇa-guhyaṁ
taṁ vyāsa-sūnum upayāmi guruṁ munīnām ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 1.2.3)
“I take shelter in him, Vyāsa’s son, the guru of the sages [i.e., he who spoke instructions even in the presence of his gurus Nārada and Vyāsa], who compassionately spoke for saṁsārīs [i.e., people of all times] desiring to completely cross over the blinding darkness [i.e., avidyā] this confidential Purāṇa [i.e., Śrīmad Bhāgavatam], which is self-endowed with magnificence [i.e., which conveys the supremacy of rasa and is the cause of Śukadeva being most exalted among all the sages], the essence of all the Śrutis [alt., the essence of all that can be heard], unparalleled, and the illuminator of the higher self.”
Commentary
ātmānāṁ kārya-kāraṇa-saṁghātam adhikṛtya vartamānam ātma-tattvam adhyātmaṁ tasya dīpaṁ sākṣāt prakāśakam |
(Bhāvārtha-dīpikā on Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 1.2.3)
“The self-entity (ātmā-tattva) present in and presiding over the combination of the effect [i.e., the visible, gross body] and the cause [i.e., the invisible, subtle body] of the self (ātmā) is the adhyātma (“higher self”); the lamp, that is, the direct illuminator, of this [i.e., of the nature of this higher self, is the adhyātma-dīpam, that is, Śrīmad Bhāgavatam].”