Devanagari
साक्षाद्भगवतोक्तेन गुरुणा हरिणा नृप ।
विशुद्धज्ञानदीपेन स्फुरता विश्वतोमुखम् ॥ ४१ ॥
Verse text
sākṣād bhagavatoktena
guruṇā hariṇā nṛpa
viśuddha-jṣāna-dīpena
sphuratā viśvato-mukham
Synonyms
sākṣāt
—
directly
;
bhagavatā
—
by the Supreme Personality of Godhead
;
uktena
—
instructed
;
guruṇā
—
the spiritual master
;
hariṇā
—
by Lord Hari
;
nṛpa
—
O King
;
viśuddha
—
pure
;
jṣāna
—
knowledge
;
dīpena
—
by the light of
;
sphuratā
—
enlightening
;
viśvataḥ
—
mukham — all angles of vision .
Translation
In this way King Malayadhvaja attained perfect knowledge because in his pure state he was directly instructed by the Supreme Personality of Godhead. By means of such enlightening transcendental knowledge, he could understand everything from all angles of vision.
Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)
O King! By direct vision of the Lord who takes away all suffering, shining brightly everywhere, by the lamp of pure knowledge taught by guru concerning the Lord’s sweetness, he saw himself possessing love for the Lord and saw the Lord possessing love for him, and after losing that vision because of fainting, he gave up all connection with the gross and subtle bodies.
Then, when prema arose, he saw the Lord directly. By the Supreme Lord who takes away all suffering (hariṇā), with bright effulgence spreading everywhere (viśvataḥmukham sphuratā), and by the lamp of knowledge, the means of realizing the Lord’s sweetness, what is taught by the guru, one sees himself as the possessor of rati for the supreme Brahman (ātmānam pare brahmaṇi), because it has already been said vāsudeve bhagavati nānyad vedodvahan ratim: he saw only that he had rati for Vāsudeva. The Lord also says ye yathā māṁ prapadyante tāṁstathaiva bhajāmyaham: according to how they surrender to me, I reward them. (BG 4.11) Thus he saw the Lord to be full of attraction for him (ātmani parabrahman). At that moment, giving up that vision because of fainting in bliss, he lost interest in gross and subtle coverings completely.
But those who favor the regal aspect of the Lord explain the three verses in the following way. The King, knowing the Supreme Lord (ātmānam) as all-pervading and also situated within the jīva, gave up saṁsāra. Examples are given of each vision. All pervasiveness of the Lord is similar to the witness of reflection, the mind, which spreads through the body of the jīva. The Lord within is similar to realizing in deep sleep that there is only the ātmā, for one says “I slept soundly.” In the deep sleep state, there is realization of only the ātmā, separate from body. How does this knowledge arise? It arises from the Lord who is the witness. Dadāmi buddhiyogaṁ taṁ yena māmupayānti: I give intelligence by which one attains me. (BG10.10) By the lamp of that knowledge, one sees in the Supreme Lord, who is the āśraya-tattva, the pure jīva, who takes shelter of the Lord. And he sees in the pure jīva, you, the Supreme Lord, presiding over the jīva. After attaining prema, one gives up the process of reflection (vihāya īkṣām). Because the Bhāgavatam is like Mohinī avatāra, giving nectar to the devotees and cheating the demons, others interpret these verses differently. The devotees do not accept those interpretations.
Purport
In this verse the words
sākṣād bhagavatoktena guruṇā hariṇā
are very significant. The Supreme Personality of Godhead speaks directly to the individual soul when the devotee has completely purified himself by rendering devotional service to the Lord. Lord Kṛṣṇa confirms this also in
Bhagavad-gītā
(10.10)
:
teṣāṁ satata-yuktānāṁ
bhajatāṁ prīti-pūrvakam
dadāmi buddhi-yogaṁ taṁ
yena mām upayānti te
“To those who are constantly devoted and worship Me with love, I give the understanding by which they can come to Me.”
The Lord is the Supersoul seated in everyone’s heart, and He acts as the
caitya-guru,
the spiritual master within. However, He gives direct instructions only to the advanced, pure devotees. In the beginning, when a devotee is serious and sincere, the Lord gives him directions from within to approach a bona fide spiritual master. When one is trained by the spiritual master according to the regulative principles of devotional service and is situated on the platform of spontaneous attachment for the Lord (
rāga-bhakti
), the Lord also gives instructions from within (
teṣāṁ satata-yuktānāṁ bhajatāṁ prīti-pūrvakam/ dadāmi buddhi-yogaṁ tam
). This distinct advantage is obtained by a liberated soul. Having attained this stage, King Malayadhvaja was directly in touch with the Supreme Lord and was receiving instructions from Him directly.