Devanagari
अहं च योगेश्वरमात्मतत्त्व-
विदां मुनीनां परमं गुरुं वै ।
प्रष्टुं प्रवृत्त: किमिहारणं तत्
साक्षाद्धरिं ज्ञानकलावतीर्णम् ॥ १९ ॥
Verse text
ahaṁ ca yogeśvaram ātma-tattva-
vidāṁ munīnāṁ paramaṁ guruṁ vai
praṣṭuṁ pravṛttaḥ kim ihāraṇaṁ tat
sākṣād dhariṁ jṣāna-kalāvatīrṇam
Synonyms
aham
—
I
;
ca
—
and
;
yoga
—
īśvaram — the master of all mystic power
;
ātma
—
tattva — vidām — of the learned scholars who are aware of the spiritual science
;
munīnām
—
of such saintly persons
;
paramam
—
the best
;
gurum
—
the preceptor
;
vai
—
indeed
;
praṣṭum
—
to inquire
;
pravṛttaḥ
—
engaged
;
kim
—
what
;
iha
—
in this world
;
araṇam
—
the most secure shelter
;
tat
—
that which
;
sākṣāt harim
—
directly the Supreme Personality of Godhead
;
jṣāna
—
kalā — avatīrṇam — who has descended as the incarnation of complete knowledge in His plenary portion known as Kapiladeva .
Translation
I consider your good self the most exalted master of mystic power. You know the spiritual science perfectly well. You are the most exalted of all learned sages, and you have descended for the benefit of all human society. You have come to give spiritual knowledge, and you are a direct representative of Kapiladeva, the incarnation of God and the plenary portion of knowledge. I am therefore asking you, O spiritual master, what is the most secure shelter in this world?
Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)
I now inquire from you, the master of yoga, the best guru of sages knowing about ātmā, about the shelter in this world, the Lord himself who appeared as a portion of knowledge.
The chief among the great yogīs will be able to cut my doubts. That is indicated in this verse. Sakṣat hari means Kapiladeva who appeared for giving knowledge as a portion of the Lord’s jṣāna.
Purport
As Kṛṣṇa confirms in
Bhagavad-gītā
:
yoginām api sarveṣāṁ
mad-gatenāntarātmanā
śraddhāvān bhajate yo māṁ
sa me yuktatamo mataḥ
“Of all
yogīs,
he who abides in Me with great faith, worshiping Me in transcendental loving service, is most intimately united with Me in
yoga
and is the highest of all.” (
Bg. 6.47
)
Jaḍa Bharata was a perfect
yogī.
He was formerly the emperor Bharata Mahārāja, and he was now the most exalted personality among learned sages and the master of all mystic powers. Although Jaḍa Bharata was an ordinary living entity, he had inherited all the knowledge given by the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Kapiladeva. He could therefore be taken directly as the Supreme Personality of Godhead. As confirmed by Śrīla Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura in his stanzas to the spiritual master:
sākṣād-dharitvena samasta-śāstraiḥ.
An exalted personality like Jaḍa Bharata is as good as the Supreme Personality of Godhead because he fully represents the Lord by giving knowledge to others. Jaḍa Bharata is herein accepted as the direct representative of the Supreme Personality of Godhead because he was imparting knowledge on behalf of the Supreme Lord. Therefore Mahārāja Rahūgaṇa concluded that it was appropriate to ask him about
ātma-tattva,
the spiritual science.
Tad-vijṣānārthaṁ sa gurum evābhigacchet.
This Vedic injunction is also confirmed herein. If anyone is at all interested in knowing the spiritual science (
brahma jijṣāsā
), he must approach a
guru
like Jaḍa Bharata.