SB 11.10.13 · Srimad-Bhagavatam

Devanagari

वैशारदी सातिविशुद्धबुद्धि- र्धुनोति मायां गुणसम्प्रसूताम् । गुणांश्च सन्दह्य यदात्ममेतत् स्वयं च शाम्यत्यसमिद् यथाग्नि: ॥ १३ ॥

Verse text

vaiśāradī sāti-viśuddha-buddhir dhunoti māyāṁ guṇa-samprasūtām gunāṁś ca sandahya yad-ātmam etat svayaṁ ca śāṁyaty asamid yathāgniḥ

Synonyms

vaiśāradī — available from the expert ; sā — this ; ati — viśuddha — most pure ; buddhiḥ — intelligence or knowledge ; dhunoti — repels ; māyām — illusion ; guṇa — from the modes of material nature ; samprasūtām — produced ; guṇān — the modes of nature themselves ; ca — also ; sandahya — completely burning up ; yat — from which modes ; ātmam — constituted ; etat — this (material existence) ; svayam — itself ; ca — also ; śāṁyati — is pacified ; asamit — without fuel ; yathā — just as ; agniḥ — fire .

Translation

By submissively hearing from an expert spiritual master, the expert disciple develops pure knowledge, which repels the onslaught of material illusion arising from the three modes of material nature. Finally this pure knowledge itself ceases, just as fire ceases when the stock of fuel has been consumed.

Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)

Pure vidyā arising from the Lord destroys avidyā in the form of the gross and subtle bodies, which arise from the guṇas. After destroying avidyā and the guṇas, vidyā itself is destroyed, just as a fire goes out when deprived of fuel. Knowledge is compared to fire. Vidyā, very pure knowledge coming from the Lord, (viśāradī) destroys māyā made of avidyā, ignorance, in the form of the imposition of the subtle and gross bodies (yad ātmam), the bondage of saṁsāra. After destroying its qualities as well, vidyā itself is destroyed just as fire goes out when fuel is exhausted. Then, by pure bhakti which has also been practiced along with vidyā (jṣāna-miśra-bhakti), one attains śānti-rati and then residence on the planet of the Lord. It is said: bhaktir muktyaiva nirvighnety ātta-yukta-viraktatāḥ | anujjhita-mumukṣā ye bhajante te tu tāpasāḥ ||15|| The practitioners of austerity who attain śānti-rati are those persons who worship the Lord while practicing yukta-vairāgya without giving up the desire for liberation, since obstacles to bhakti are destroyed by attaining liberation. BRS 3.1.15 However, jṣānīs who perform bhakti secondarily (bhakti-miśra-jṣāna), after the destruction of avidyā and vidyā, merge into Paramātmā by their jṣāna arising through their secondary bhakti. bhaktyā mām abhijānāti yāvān yaś cāsmi tattvataḥ tato māṁ tattvato jṣātvā viśate tad-anantaram || Only by bhakti can a person know me as Brahman. Then, knowing me as Brahman by that bhakti, he merges with me. BG 18.55

Purport

The Sanskrit word vaiśāradī means “that which is derived from the expert [ viśārada ].” Perfect transcendental knowledge comes from the expert spiritual master, and when such knowledge is heard by the expert disciple, it curbs the waves of material illusion. Since the Lord’s illusory energy acts eternally within the material world, there is no possibility of destroying illusion. One may, however, destroy the presence of illusion within one’s own heart. To accomplish this the disciple must become expert in pleasing the expert spiritual master. As one advances to the perfectional stage of Kṛṣṇa consciousness, experiencing the presence of the Lord everywhere, one’s attention shifts to the transcendental platform. At that time, pure knowledge itself, one’s constant technical awareness of illusion, diminishes, just as fire diminishes and is extinguished after consuming its stock of fuel. Śrīla Madhvācārya has quoted from several Vedic scriptures to show that māyā, or material illusion, is just like a witch who always haunts the conditioned souls. Māyā offers the conditioned souls whatever they like within the three modes of nature, but such offerings are all just like fire that burns the heart to ashes. Therefore, one must understand that the material world is a hellish place, offering a permanent situation to no one. Externally we experience many things, and internally we contemplate our experience, formulating plans for future action. Thus internally and externally we are victims of ignorance. Real knowledge comes from the Vedas, or the Supreme Personality of Godhead in His form of perfect wisdom. If we become fully Kṛṣṇa conscious, taking complete shelter of the Lord, there will be no scarcity of pleasure, because the Lord is the reservoir of all pleasure, and His devotees freely move within that reservoir.