SB 4.31.7

SB 4.31.7

Devanagari

तन्न: प्रद्योतयाध्यात्मज्ञानं तत्त्वार्थदर्शनम् । येनाञ्जसा तरिष्यामो दुस्तरं भवसागरम् ॥ ७ ॥

Verse text

tan naḥ pradyotayādhyātma- jṣānaṁ tattvārtha-darśanam yenāṣjasā tariṣyāmo dustaraṁ bhava-sāgaram

Synonyms

tat therefore ; naḥ for us ; pradyotaya kindly awaken ; adhyātma transcendental ; jṣānam knowledge ; tattva Absolute Truth ; artha for the purpose of ; darśanam philosophy ; yena by which ; aṣjasā easily ; tariṣyāmaḥ we can cross over ; dustaram formidable ; bhava sāgaram — the ocean of nescience .

Translation

Dear master, kindly enlighten us in transcendental knowledge, which may act as a torchlight by which we may cross the dark nescience of material existence.

Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)

Please enlighten us about knowledge of the jīva, which shows the highest truth, by which we can easily cross the difficult ocean of material existence. Adhyātma-jṣāna means knowledge concerning (adhi) the ātma. Enlighten us about the necessary knowledge of the jīva that we previously knew.

Purport

The Pracetās requested Nārada to enlighten them in transcendental knowledge. Generally when a common man meets a saintly person, he wishes to get some material benediction. However, the Pracetās were not interested in material benefit, for they had enjoyed all this sufficiently. Nor did they want the fulfillment of their material desires. They were simply interested in crossing the ocean of nescience. Everyone should be interested in getting out of these material clutches. Everyone should approach a saintly person in order to be enlightened in this connection. One should not bother a saintly person to get blessings for material enjoyment. Generally, householders receive saintly persons to get their blessings, but their real aim is to become happy in the material world. Asking such material benedictions is not recommended in the śāstras.