SB 4.12.17 · Srimad Bhagavatam

Devanagari

तस्यां विशुद्धकरण: शिववार्विगाह्य बद्ध्वासनं जितमरुन्मनसाहृताक्ष: । स्थूले दधार भगवत्प्रतिरूप एतद् ध्यायंस्तदव्यवहितो व्यसृजत्समाधौ ॥ १७ ॥

Verse text

tasyāṁ viśuddha-karaṇaḥ śiva-vār vigāhya baddhvāsanaṁ jita-marun manasāhṛtākṣaḥ sthūle dadhāra bhagavat-pratirūpa etad dhyāyaṁs tad avyavahito vyasṛjat samādhau

Synonyms

tasyām — in Badarikāśrama ; viśuddha — purified ; karaṇaḥ — his senses ; śiva — pure ; vāḥ — water ; vigāhya — bathing in ; baddhvā — having fixed ; āsanam — sitting position ; jita — controlled ; marut — breathing process ; manasā — by the mind ; āhṛta — withdrawn ; akṣaḥ — his senses ; sthūle — physical ; dadhāra — he concentrated ; bhagavat — pratirūpe — on the exact form of the Lord ; etat — the mind ; dhyāyan — meditating upon ; tat — that ; avyavahitaḥ — without stopping ; vyasṛjat — he entered ; samādhau — into trance .

Translation

In Badarikāśrama Dhruva Mahārāja’s senses became completely purified because he bathed regularly in the crystal-clear, purified water. He fixed his sitting position and by yogic practice controlled the breathing process and the air of life; in this way his senses were completely withdrawn. Then he concentrated his mind on the arcā-vigraha form of the Lord, which is the exact replica of the Lord and, thus meditating upon Him, entered into complete trance.

Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)

Purifying his senses there, he bathed in the pure water, sat in the roper position, controlled his breathing, withdrew his senses by the mind, and concentrated on the substitute form of the Lord, the universal form. Meditating continuously on the actual form of the Lord, he then gave up the universal form in samādhi. The aṣṭāṅga-yoga process is described: yama, niyama, asana, prāṇāyāma, pratyāhāra, dhāraṇa, dhyāna and samādhi. He practiced dhāraṇa on the universal form (pratinidhi). He then meditated on the actual form of the Lord without interruption, and situated in samādhi, gave up that gross, universal form.

Purport

Here is a description of the aṣṭāṅga-yoga system, to which Dhruva Mahārāja was already accustomed. Aṣṭāṅga-yoga was never meant to be practiced in a fashionable city. Dhruva Mahārāja went to Badarikāśrama, and in a solitary place, alone, he practiced yoga. He concentrated his mind on the arcā-vigraha, the worshipable Deity of the Lord, which exactly represents the Supreme Lord, and thus thinking constantly of that Deity, he became absorbed in trance. Worship of the arcā-vigraha is not idol worship. The arcā-vigraha is an incarnation of the Lord in a form appreciable by a devotee. Therefore devotees engage in the temple in the service of the Lord as arcā-vigraha, a form made of sthūla (material) objects such as stone, metal, wood, jewels or paint. All of these are called sthūla, or physical representations. Since the devotees follow the regulative principles of worship, even though the Lord is there in His physical form He is nondifferent from His original, spiritual form. Thus the devotee gets the benefit of achieving the ultimate goal of life, that is to say, becoming always absorbed in thought of the Lord. This incessant thought of the Lord, as prescribed in the Bhagavad-gītā, makes one the topmost yogī.