Devanagari
स वै सत्कर्मणां साक्षाद् द्विजातेरिह सम्भव: ।
आद्योऽङ्ग यत्राश्रमिणां यथाहं ज्ञानदो गुरु: ॥ ३२ ॥
Verse text
sa vai sat-karmaṇāṁ sākṣād
dvijāter iha sambhavaḥ
ādyo ’ṅga yatrāśramiṇāṁ
yathāhaṁ jṣāna-do guruḥ
Synonyms
saḥ
—
he
;
vai
—
indeed
;
sat
—
sanctified
;
karmaṇām
—
of duties
;
sākṣāt
—
directly
;
dvi
—
jāteḥ — of one who has been twice born
;
iha
—
in this material life
;
sambhavaḥ
—
birth
;
ādyaḥ
—
first
;
aṅga
—
My dear friend
;
yatra
—
through whom
;
āśramiṇām
—
for the members of all the spiritual orders of society
;
yathā
—
as
;
aham
—
Myself
;
jṣāna
—
of divine knowledge
;
daḥ
—
the bestower
;
guruḥ
—
spiritual master .
Translation
My dear friend, he who gives a person his physical birth is his first spiritual master, and he who initiates him as a twice-born brāhmaṇa and engages him in religious duties is indeed more directly his spiritual master. But the person who bestows transcendental knowledge upon the members of all the spiritual orders of society is one’s ultimate spiritual master. Indeed, he is as good as My own self.
Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)
My dear friend, he who gives a person his physical birth is his first spiritual master, and he who initiates him as a twice-born brāhmaṇa and engages him in religious duties is indeed more directly his spiritual master. But the person who bestows transcendental knowledge upon the members of all the spiritual orders of society is one's ultimate spiritual master. Indeed, he is as good as My own self.
KB 10.80.32
“My dear friend, everyone should consider his father to be his first teacher because by the mercy of one’s father one gets this body. The father is therefore the natural spiritual master. Our next spiritual master is he who initiates us into transcendental knowledge, and he is to be worshiped as much as I am. The spiritual master may be more than one. The spiritual master who instructs the disciple about spiritual matters is called the śikṣā-guru, and the spiritual master who initiates the disciple is called the dīkṣā-guru. Both of them are My representatives. There may be many spiritual masters who instruct, but the initiator spiritual master is one.
Purport (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)
There are three gurus: the father, the one who gives upanayanam, and the one who teaches about me. Of those the last is most worshipable. He who makes possible our birth sambhavah) in this world (iha) , the father, is the first guru (adyah). He who makes it possible for one to perform rituals (sat karmanam) being second born, the one who gives upanayanam and teaches gayatri mantra is the second guru. He who gives knowledge to people of the four asramas, who teaches about me, is to be worshipped on the same level as me (yathaham).
Purport (Jiva Goswami)
Sa vai should be repeated with each statement. He is the first guru who gives one birth (sambhavaḥ) in this world (iha). He is the second guru who gives birth as a second born. He who gives knowledge of the Lord is the highest guru. Still all these gurus should be taken as equal, for in verse 34 he concludes by saying that service to guru is the most satisfying to him.
Purport (Sanatana Goswami)
Vai means that alone or what is famous.