SB 1.5.38 · Srimad Bhagavatam

Devanagari

इति मूर्त्यभिधानेन मन्त्रमूर्तिममूर्तिकम् । यजते यज्ञपुरुषं स सम्यग्दर्शन: पुमान् ॥ ३८ ॥

Verse text

iti mūrty-abhidhānena mantra-mūrtim amūrtikam yajate yajṣa-puruṣaṁ sa samyag-darśanaḥ pumān

Synonyms

iti — thus ; mūrti — representation ; abhidhānena — in sound ; mantra — mūrtim — form representation of transcendental sound ; amūrtikam — the Lord, who has no material form ; yajate — worship ; yajṣa — Viṣṇu ; puruṣam — the Personality of Godhead ; saḥ — he alone ; samyak — perfectly ; darśanaḥ — one who has seen ; pumān — person .

Translation

Thus he is the actual seer who worships, in the form of transcendental sound representation, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Viṣṇu, who has no material form.

Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)

Using this mantra indicating the four forms, one worships the deity who is the subject of the dhyāna-mantra, the Lord worthy of worship. That person is worthy of being seen.

Purport

Our present senses are all made of material elements, and therefore they are imperfect in realizing the transcendental form of Lord Viṣṇu. He is therefore worshiped by sound representation via the transcendental method of chanting. Anything which is beyond the scope of experience by our imperfect senses can be realized fully by the sound representation. A person transmitting sound from a far distant place can be factually experienced. If this is materially possible, why not spiritually? This experience is not a vague impersonal experience. It is actually an experience of the transcendental Personality of Godhead, who possesses the pure form of eternity, bliss and knowledge. In the Amarakośa Sanskrit dictionary the word mūrti carries import in twofold meanings, namely, form and difficulty. Therefore amūrtikam is explained by Ācārya Śrī Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura as meaning “without difficulty.” The transcendental form of eternal bliss and knowledge can be experienced by our original spiritual senses, which can be revived by chanting of the holy mantras, or transcendental sound representations. Such sound should be received from the transparent agency of the bona fide spiritual master, and the chanting may be practiced by the direction of the spiritual master. That will gradually lead us nearer to the Lord. This method of worship is recommended in the pāṣcarātrika system, which is both recognized and authorized. The pāṣcarātrika system has the most authorized codes for transcendental devotional service. Without the help of such codes, one cannot approach the Lord, certainly not by dry philosophical speculation. The pāṣcarātrika system is both practical and suitable for this age of quarrel. The Paṣcarātra is more important than the Vedānta for this modern age.

Commentary (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)

One worships using the four names indicating the four forms starting with Vāsudeva. One should worship the Lord, who is the subject of the dhyāna-mantra (mantra-mūrtim), with the sixteen items of worship while uttering vāsudevāya namaḥ etc. according to the rules of Paṣcarātra. By chanting the mantra, the deity makes his appearance. Or mantra-mūrti can mean the deity whose body is the mantra. That Lord does not have a material form (amūrtikam). Amūrtikam can also mean that the Lord who is not hard, but rather soft with mercy. Amara-kosa says mūrtiḥ kāṭhinya-kāyayor: mūrti means hard and body. Yajṣa-puruṣam means “the Lord who should be worshipped.” He is pleasant to behold (samyag-darśanaḥ). This means that when others see that worshipper, they become successful. Or darśanaḥ can mean knowledge. One who worships the lord has complete knowledge. Or darśanaḥ can mean “by which something is seen.” That means scripture which denotes bhakti, such as the Paṣcarātra, which is most wholesome (samyak), because it is satisfying to the soul. One who worships the Lord possesses the complete scriptural conclusion. This does not refer to scriptures devoid of bhakti, which are not wholesome but deficient. bhavatānudita-prāyaṁ yaśo bhagavato ’malam | yenaivāsau na tuṣyeta manye tad darśanaṁ khilam || You have not sufficiently described the glories of the spotless Lord Kṛṣṇa. Because your mind could never be satisfied with Vedānta, I think that writing the Vedānta-sūtras is insufficient. SB 1.5.8 This means “Though you wrote the Vedānta-darśana, your mind is not satisfied completely, but I became fully satisfied in mind by writing the Paṣcarātra.”