Devanagari
श्रीकश्यप उवाच
एतन्मे भगवान्पृष्ट: प्रजाकामस्य पद्मज: ।
यदाह ते प्रवक्ष्यामि व्रतं केशवतोषणम् ॥ २४ ॥
Verse text
śrī-kaśyapa uvāca
etan me bhagavān pṛṣṭaḥ
prajā-kāmasya padmajaḥ
yad āha te pravakṣyāmi
vrataṁ keśava-toṣaṇam
Synonyms
śrī
—
kaśyapaḥ uvāca — Kaśyapa Muni said
;
etat
—
this
;
me
—
by me
;
bhagavān
—
the most powerful
;
pṛṣṭaḥ
—
when he was requested
;
prajā
—
kāmasya — desiring offspring
;
padma
—
jaḥ — Lord Brahmā, who was born of a lotus flower
;
yat
—
whatever
;
āha
—
he said
;
te
—
unto you
;
pravakṣyāmi
—
I shall explain
;
vratam
—
in the form of worship
;
keśava
—
toṣaṇam — by which Keśava, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, is satisfied .
Translation
Śrī Kaśyapa Muni said: When I desired offspring, I placed inquiries before Lord Brahmā, who is born from a lotus flower. Now I shall explain to you the same process Lord Brahmā instructed me, by which Keśava, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, is satisfied.
Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)
Kaśyapa said: I shall explain to you the process by which Keśava is satisfied, which Brahmā instructed to me when I inquired from him with a desire to produce progeny.
Purport
Here the process of devotional service is further explained. Kaśyapa Muni wanted to instruct Aditi in the same process recommended to him by Brahmā for satisfying the Supreme Personality of Godhead. This is valuable. The
guru
does not manufacture a new process to instruct the disciple. The disciple receives from the
guru
an authorized process received by the
guru
from his
guru.
This is called the system of disciplic succession (
evaṁ paramparā-prāptaṁ imaṁ rājarṣayo viduḥ
). This is the bona fide Vedic system of receiving the process of devotional service, by which the Supreme Personality of Godhead is pleased. Therefore, to approach a bona fide
guru,
or spiritual master, is essential. The bona fide spiritual master is he who has received the mercy of his
guru,
who in turn is bona fide because he has received the mercy of his
guru.
This is called the
paramparā
system. Unless one follows this
paramparā
system, the
mantra
one receives will be chanted for no purpose. Nowadays there are so many rascal
gurus
who manufacture their
mantras
as a process for material advancement, not spiritual advancement. Still, the
mantra
cannot be successful if it is manufactured.
Mantras
and the process of devotional service have special power, provided they are received from the authorized person.