Devanagari
तं ब्रह्मनिर्वाणसमाधिमाश्रितं
व्युपाश्रितं गिरिशं योगकक्षाम् ।
सलोकपाला मुनयो मनूनाम्
आद्यं मनुं प्राञ्जलय: प्रणेमु: ॥ ३९ ॥
Verse text
taṁ brahma-nirvāṇa-samādhim āśritaṁ
vyupāśritaṁ giriśaṁ yoga-kakṣām
sa-loka-pālā munayo manūnām
ādyaṁ manuṁ prāṣjalayaḥ praṇemuḥ
Synonyms
tam
—
him (Lord Śiva)
;
brahma
—
nirvāṇa — in brahmānanda
;
samādhim
—
in trance
;
āśritam
—
absorbed
;
vyupāśritam
—
leaning on
;
giriśam
—
Lord Śiva
;
yoga
—
kakṣām — having his left knee firmly fixed with a knotted cloth
;
sa
—
loka — pālāḥ — along with the demigods (headed by Indra)
;
munayaḥ
—
the sages
;
manūnām
—
of all thinkers
;
ādyam
—
the chief
;
manum
—
thinker
;
prāṣjalayaḥ
—
with folded palms
;
praṇemuḥ
—
offered respectful obeisances .
Translation
All the sages and demigods, headed by Indra, offered their respectful obeisances unto Lord Śiva with folded hands. Lord Śiva was dressed in saffron garments and absorbed in trance, thus appearing to be the foremost of all sages.
Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)
The devatās and sages offered respects with folded hands to Śiva, chief of meditators, who had a cloth draped over his knee, and whose mind was completely absorbed in the bliss of the Supreme Lord.
Brahma-nirvāṇam means the bliss of Brahman. According to Prahlāda however nirvāṇa means the bliss of realizing the Supreme Lord.
adhokṣajālambham ihāśubhātmanaḥ
śarīriṇaḥ saṁsṛti-cakra-śātanam
tad brahma-nirvāṇa-sukhaṁ vidur budhās
tato bhajadhvaṁ hṛdaye hṛd-īśvaram
The wise know that direct contact with the Lord, which includes the happiness of Brahman, destroys saṁsāra for the sinful persons possessing material bodies in this world. Therefore, worship Paramātmā in your heart. SB 7.7.37
Śiva had completely concentrated his mind (samādhi) on that bliss. Yoga-kakṣam refers to the yogī’s cloth draped in such a way to make the left knee firm. He was the chief (ādyam) of those who are dedicated to contemplation (manūnām).
Purport
In this verse the word
brahmānanda
is significant. This
brahmānanda,
or
brahma-nirvāṇa,
is explained by Prahlāda Mahārāja. When one is completely absorbed in the
adhokṣaja,
the Supreme Personality of Godhead, who is beyond the sense perception of materialistic persons, one is situated in
brahmānanda.
It is impossible to conceive of the existence, name, form, quality and pastimes of the Supreme Personality of Godhead because He is transcendentally situated beyond the conception of materialistic persons. Because materialists cannot imagine or conceive of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, they may think that God is dead, but factually He is always existing in His
sac-cid-ānanda-vigraha,
His eternal form. Constant meditation concentrated on the form of the Lord is called
samādhi
— ecstasy or trance.
Samādhi
means particularly concentrated attention, so one who has achieved the qualification of always meditating on the Personality of Godhead is to be understood to be always in trance and enjoying
brahma-nirvāṇa,
or
brahmānanda.
Lord Śiva exhibited those symptoms, and therefore it is stated that he was absorbed in
brahmānanda.
Another significant word is
yoga-kakṣām.
Yoga-kakṣā
is the sitting posture in which the left thigh is fixed under one’s tightly knotted saffron-colored garment. Also the words
manūnām ādyam
are significant here because they mean a philosopher, or one who is thoughtful and can think very nicely. Such a man is called
manu.
Lord Śiva is described in this verse as the chief of all thinkers. Lord Śiva, of course, does not engage in useless mental speculation, but as stated in the previous verse, he is always thoughtful regarding how to deliver the demons from their fallen condition of life. It is said that during the advent of Lord Caitanya, Sadāśiva appeared as Advaita Prabhu, and Advaita Prabhu’s chief concern was to elevate the fallen conditioned souls to the platform of devotional service to Lord Kṛṣṇa. Since people were engaged in useless occupations which would continue their material existence, Lord Śiva, in the form of Lord Advaita, appealed to the Supreme Lord to appear as Lord Caitanya to deliver these illusioned souls. Actually Lord Caitanya appeared on the request of Lord Advaita. Similarly, Lord Śiva has a
sampradāya,
the Rudra
sampradāya.
He is always thinking about the deliverance of the fallen souls, as exhibited by Lord Advaita Prabhu.