Verse Text
prāyaḥ svasukha-jātīyaṁ sukhaṁ syād atra yoginām |
kintv ātma-saukhyam aghanaṁ ghanaṁ tv īśa-mayaṁ sukham ||5||
Translation
Generally, these practitioners possess the happiness of impersonal Brahman, realizing it as the cause of everything. However, such impersonal happiness is dilute, whereas the happiness related to the Lord with form and qualities is intense.
Purport (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)
Those who are śānta-bhaktas (yoginām) previously experienced the bliss of brahman in samādhi as jṣānīs, which has the nature of bliss for the self. Now, at the time of experiencing rati, they will have intense happiness through the appearance of the Lord’s form as sac-cid-ānanda (īśa-mayam). They will not attain the type of unlimited happiness of the devotees with dāsya and other rasas. However, their bliss is greater than that of the impersonalists, since the bliss of realizing the Lord with qualities is more concentrated than the bliss from realizing the ātmā.
Purport (Jiva Goswami)
Svasukha-jātīyam sukham means the happiness of brahman without qualities, which is the source of everything. Though these persons sometimes realize the qualities of the Lord, generally (prāyaḥ) they prefer the aspect without qualities. This is indicated in the ātmārāma verse in Bhāgavatam. Īśa-mayam means a realization of the Lord endowed with an eternal form of knowledge and bliss.
Purport (Nectar of Devotion)
Such sages are generally called mystic yogīs, and in most cases they are inclined to appreciate the spiritual pleasure of the impersonal feature of the Absolute Truth. They are practically unaware of the transcendental pleasure derived from personal contact with the Supreme Godhead.
Actually the transcendental pleasure derived in association with the Supreme Person is far greater than the pleasure derived from impersonal Brahman realization, because of the direct meeting with the eternal form of the Lord. Impersonalists do not directly derive the transcendental pleasure of association with the Lord by hearing of His pastimes. As such, the impersonalists cannot derive any relishable transcendental pleasure from the topics of Bhagavad-gītā, in which the Lord is personally talking with Arjuna. The basic principle of their impersonal attitude does not allow them the transcendental pleasure which is relished by a devotee whose basic principle of understanding is the Supreme Person. The impersonalistic commentary on Bhagavad-gītā is therefore disastrous, because without understanding the transcendental pleasure of the Gītā, the impersonalist wants to interpret it in his own way. If an impersonalist can, however, come in contact with a pure devotee, his transcendental position can be changed for greater elevation. Great sages are therefore recommended to worship the form of the Lord in order to achieve that highest transcendental pleasure.
Without worshiping the arcā-vigraha, the form or Deity of the Lord, one cannot understand such literature as Bhagavad-gītā and Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam.