Devanagari
क्षणार्धेनापि तुलये न स्वर्गं नापुनर्भवम् ।
भगवत्सङ्गिसङ्गस्य मर्त्यानां किमुताशिष: ॥ ५७ ॥
Verse text
kṣaṇārdhenāpi tulaye
na svargaṁ nāpunar-bhavam
bhagavat-saṅgi-saṅgasya
martyānāṁ kim utāśiṣaḥ
Synonyms
kṣaṇa
—
ardhena — by half a moment
;
api
—
even
;
tulaye
—
compare
;
na
—
never
;
svargam
—
heavenly planets
;
na
—
neither
;
apunaḥ
—
bhavam — merging into the Supreme
;
bhagavat
—
the Supreme Personality of Godhead
;
saṅgi
—
associate
;
saṅgasya
—
one who takes advantage of associating
;
martyānām
—
of the conditioned soul
;
kim uta
—
what is there
;
āśiṣaḥ
—
blessings .
Translation
If one by chance associates with a devotee, even for a fraction of a moment, he no longer is subject to attraction by the results of karma or jṣāna. What interest then can he have in the benedictions of the demigods, who are subject to the laws of birth and death?
Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)
What to speak of any blessings on this earth, or on Svarga, even the blessing of liberation cannot compare with even half a moment’s association with the devotee of the Lord.
But he should desire association with devotees. By half a moment’s association he obtains such results. How much more he will gain by several moments’ association. And how much more result will be obtained if the association takes place with devotion, which produces further bhakti? And how much more result if the association takes place with prema, the final result of bhakti? Svarga, the result of karma, and liberation (apunarbhavam), the result of jṣāna, cannot compare with a half a moment’s association with the devotees. What to speak of comparing it to jṣāna, to karma, and finally to blessings in the present world such as a kingdom?
Purport
Out of three kinds of men — the
karmīs, jṣānīs
and
bhaktas
— the
bhakta
is described herein as the most exalted. Śrīla Prabodhānanda Sarasvatī has sung,
kaivalyaṁ narakāyate tridaśa-pūr ākāśa-puṣpāyate
(
Caitanya-candrāmṛta
). The word
kaivalya
means to merge into the effulgence of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, and the word
tridaśa-pūr
refers to the heavenly planets where the demigods live. Thus for a devotee,
kaivalya-sukha,
or merging into the existence of the Lord, is hellish because the
bhakta
considers it suicidal to lose his individuality and merge into the effulgence of Brahman. A
bhakta
always wants to retain his individuality in order to render service to the Lord. Indeed, he considers promotion to the upper planetary systems to be no better than a will-o’-the-wisp. Temporary, material happiness holds no value for a devotee. The devotee is in such an exalted position that he is not interested in the actions of
karma
or
jṣāna.
The resultant actions of
karma
and
jṣāna
are so insignificant to a devotee situated on the transcendental platform that he is not in the least interested in them.
Bhakti-yoga
is sufficient to give the
bhakta
all happiness. As stated in
Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam
(1.2.6)
,
yayātmā suprasīdati.
One can be fully satisfied simply by devotional service, and that is the result of association with a devotee. Without being blessed by a pure devotee, no one can be fully satisfied, nor can anyone understand the transcendental position of the Supreme Personality of Godhead.