Devanagari
ते नाधीतश्रुतिगणा नोपासितमहत्तमा: ।
अव्रतातप्ततपस: मत्सङ्गान्मामुपागता: ॥ ७ ॥
Verse text
te nādhīta-śruti-gaṇā
nopāsita-mahattamāḥ
avratātapta-tapasaḥ
mat-saṅgān mām upāgatāḥ
Synonyms
te
—
they
;
na
—
not
;
adhīta
—
having studied
;
śruti
—
gaṇāḥ — the Vedic literatures
;
na
—
not
;
upāsita
—
having worshiped
;
mahat
—
tamaḥ — great saints
;
avrata
—
without vows
;
atapta
—
not having undergone
;
tapasaḥ
—
austerities
;
mat
—
saṅgāt — simply by association with Me and My devotees
;
mām
—
Me
;
upāgatāḥ
—
they achieved .
Translation
The persons I have mentioned did not undergo serious studies of the Vedic literature, nor did they worship great saintly persons, nor did they execute severe vows or austerities. Simply by association with Me and My devotees, they achieved Me.
Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)
The persons I have mentioned did not undergo serious studies of the Vedic literature, nor did they worship great saintly persons, nor did they execute severe vows or austerities. Simply by association with my devotees, they achieved me.
They attained me, not by other processes, but by mixed or pure bhakti, which arose from association with devotees. They did not study the Vedas, and they did not worship great sages who understood the meaning of the Vedas, in order to get knowledge of the Vedas. They did not perform vows or austerities. But they attained me, by association with devotees and bhakti (mat-saṅgāt). Association with devotees is equivalent to association with me.
Purport
Study of the Vedic literature, worship of those who teach the
śruti-mantras,
acceptance of vows and austerities, etc., as mentioned previously, are helpful processes that please the Supreme Personality of Godhead. In this verse, however, the Lord again explains that all such processes are secondary to the essential process of associating with the Supreme Personality of Godhead and His pure devotees. By other processes one may gain the association of the Lord and His devotees, which will actually give the perfection of life. The word
mat-saṅgāt
can also be read as
sat-saṅgāt,
with the same meaning. In the reading
mat-saṅgāt
(“from association with Me”),
mat
is also understood to indicate “those who are Mine,” or the devotees. Śrīla Śrīdhara Svāmī mentions that a pure devotee can advance in Kṛṣṇa consciousness by his own association, since simply by associating with his own activities and consciousness, he associates with the Lord.