Devanagari
तस्यात्मतन्त्रस्य हरेरधीशितु:
परस्य मायाधिपतेर्महात्मन: ।
प्रायेण दूता इह वै मनोहरा-
श्चरन्ति तद्रूपगुणस्वभावा: ॥ १७ ॥
Verse text
tasyātma-tantrasya harer adhīśituḥ
parasya māyādhipater mahātmanaḥ
prāyeṇa dūtā iha vai manoharāś
caranti tad-rūpa-guṇa-svabhāvāḥ
Synonyms
tasya
—
of Him
;
ātma
—
tantrasya — being self-sufficient, not dependent on any other person
;
hareḥ
—
the Supreme Personality of Godhead
;
adhīśituḥ
—
who is the master of everything
;
parasya
—
the Transcendence
;
māyā
—
adhipateḥ — the master of the illusory energy
;
mahā
—
ātmanaḥ — of the Supreme Soul
;
prāyeṇa
—
almost
;
dūtāḥ
—
the order carriers
;
iha
—
in this world
;
vai
—
indeed
;
manoharāḥ
—
pleasing in their dealings and bodily features
;
caranti
—
they move
;
tat
—
of Him
;
rūpa
—
possessing the bodily features
;
guṇa
—
the transcendental qualities
;
svabhāvāḥ
—
and nature .
Translation
The Supreme Personality of Godhead is self-sufficient and fully independent. He is the master of everyone and everything, including the illusory energy. He has His form, qualities and features; and similarly His order carriers, the Vaiṣṇavas, who are very beautiful, possess bodily features, transcendental qualities and a transcendental nature almost like His. They always wander within this world with full independence.
Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)
The very attractive servants of the independent Supreme Lord, the supreme soul, the master of material energy, having natures, qualities and forms similar to the Lord’s, move about this world.
“Let the Supreme Lord be. We will not ask about him. Who are those persons who scolded us and protected the sinner?” Prāyena mahoharāḥ means “very attractive.” This implies that the servants of Yama are not attractive.
Purport
Yamarāja was describing the Supreme Personality of Godhead, the supreme controller, but the order carriers of Yamarāja were very eager to know about the Viṣṇudūtas, who had defeated them in their encounter with Ajāmila. Yamarāja therefore stated that the Viṣṇudūtas resemble the Supreme Personality of Godhead in their bodily features, transcendental qualities and nature. In other words, the Viṣṇudūtas, or Vaiṣṇavas, are almost as qualified as the Supreme Lord. Yamarāja informed the Yamadūtas that the Viṣṇudūtas are no less powerful than Lord Viṣṇu. Since Viṣṇu is above Yamarāja, the Viṣṇudūtas are above the Yamadūtas. Persons protected by the Viṣṇudūtas, therefore, cannot be touched by the Yamadūtas.