Devanagari
एवं चीर्णेन तपसा मुनिर्धमनिसन्तत: ।
मां तपोमयमाराध्य ऋषिलोकादुपैति माम् ॥ ९ ॥
Verse text
evaṁ cīrṇena tapasā
munir dhamani-santataḥ
māṁ tapo-mayam ārādhya
ṛṣi-lokād upaiti mām
Synonyms
evam
—
thus
;
cīrṇena
—
by the practice
;
tapasā
—
of austerity
;
muniḥ
—
the saintly vānaprastha
;
dhamani
—
santataḥ — emaciated so much that the veins are visible throughout his body
;
mām
—
Me
;
tapaḥ
—
mayam — the goal of all penance
;
ārādhya
—
worshiping
;
rṣi
—
lokāt — beyond Maharloka
;
upaiti
—
achieves
;
mām
—
Me .
Translation
The saintly vānaprastha, practicing severe penances and accepting only the bare necessities of life, becomes so emaciated that he appears to be mere skin and bones. Thus worshiping Me through severe penances, he goes to the Maharloka planet and then directly achieves Me.
Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)
The vānaprastha, practicing severe penances, becomes so emaciated that he appears to be mere skin and bones. Thus worshiping me who am penance personified, he goes to Maharloka and eventually attains liberation.
Having attained Maharloka (ṛṣi-lokāt), he eventually attains liberation (mām upaiti).
Purport
A
vānaprastha
who develops pure devotional service achieves the Supreme Lord, Kṛṣṇa, while in the
vānaprastha
stage of life. One who does not become completely Kṛṣṇa conscious, however, first goes to the planet Maharloka, or Ṛṣiloka, and from there directly achieves Lord Kṛṣṇa.
One achieves Maharloka, or Ṛṣiloka, through strict observance of positive and negative regulations. However, without developing a taste for chanting and hearing the glories of the Lord (
śravaṇaṁ kīrtanaṁ viṣṇoḥ
), it is not possible to achieve the perfect liberation of going back home, back to Godhead. Therefore, on the Maharloka planet the unsuccessful sage gives more attention to chanting and hearing, and thus he gradually develops pure love of Godhead.