SB 10.23.27 · Srimad-Bhagavatam

Devanagari

प्राणबुद्धिमन:स्वात्मदारापत्यधनादय: । यत्सम्पर्कात्प्रिया आसंस्तत: को न्वपर: प्रिय: ॥ २७ ॥

Verse text

prāṇa-buddhi-manaḥ-svātma dārāpatya-dhanādayaḥ yat-samparkāt priyā āsaṁs tataḥ ko nv aparaḥ priyaḥ

Synonyms

prāṇa — one’s vital force ; buddhi — intelligence ; manaḥ — mind ; sva — relatives ; ātma — body ; dāra — wife ; apatya — children ; dhana — wealth ; ādayaḥ — and so forth ; yat — with which (self) ; samparkāt — because of contact ; priyāḥ — dear ; āsan — have become ; tataḥ — than that ; kaḥ — what ; nu — indeed ; aparaḥ — other ; priyaḥ — dear object .

Translation

It is only by contact with the self that one’s vital breath, intelligence, mind, friends, body, wife, children, wealth and so on are dear. Therefore what object can possibly be more dear than one’s own self?

Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)

It is only by contact with the self that one's vital breath, intelligence, mind, friends, body, wife, children, wealth and so on are dear. Therefore what object can possibly be more dear than one's own self? KB 10.23.27 Everyone is loving his self according to the advancement of his knowledge. Ultimately, when a person comes to understand that his self is the spirit soul and that the spirit soul is nothing but a part and parcel of the Supreme Lord, he recognizes the Supreme Lord as the ultimate goal of love and then surrenders unto Him. This surrender is considered auspicious for the conditioned soul. Our life, property, home, wife, children, house, country, society and all paraphernalia which are very dear to us are expansions of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. He is the central object of love because He gives us all bliss, expanding Himself in so many ways according to our different situations, namely bodily, mental or spiritual.

Purport

The word yat-samparkāt in this verse refers to contact with the individual self and ultimately with the Supreme Self, the Lord, who is the origin of the individual living being. By developing Kṛṣṇa consciousness, one automatically becomes self-realized, and thus one’s vital strength, intelligence, mind, relatives, body, family and wealth all become enhanced and brilliant by the central influence of Kṛṣṇa consciousness. This happens because Kṛṣṇa consciousness is the optimum efficient conjunction of the individual self, who is pure consciousness, with the Supreme Self and supreme consciousness, Kṛṣṇa.

Purport (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)

To let the intelligence operate he introduces the example. "But actually I, the paramatma, the inner seer, am more dear than body, sons, husband and family." Using logic he sobers the brahmanas’ wives. "Because (yat) of relationship (samparkat) with the paramatma, prana, buddhi, mana, body (sva), and soul, wife, children and wealth become dear. What is more dear than the paramatma (tatah)."

Purport (Jiva Goswami)

Here he shows that Paramātmā is dearer than the self. Prāṇa, mind, intelligence, jīva etc. are dear because of contact with Paramātmā, an aṁśa of me.

Purport (Sanatana Goswami)

To show that Paramātmā is dearest he shows the dearness of the ātmā first. This is Śridhara Svāmī’s meaning. Or this verse shows that Paramātmā is dearer that the ātmā. Prāṇa and other items having a relationship with me are dear. Ādayaḥ means relatives, friends, house, land and animals.