With the Vedārka Dīdhiti commentary

(translated by Swami B.V. Giri)

oṁ pūrṇam adaḥ pūrṇam idaṁ
pūrṇāt pūrṇam udacyate
pūrṇasya pūrṇam ādāya
pūrṇam evāvaśiṣyate

TEXT 1

īśāvāsyam idam sarvaṁ yat kiñca jagatyāṁ jagat
tena tyaktena bhuñjīthā mā gṛdhaḥ kasya svid dhanam

Vedārka Dīdhiti Commentary

jagatyāṁ viśve yata kiñca yat kiñcit, viśve yat kiñcid-asti tat sarvaṁ īśāvasyaṁ īśane āvṛtam. tena hetunā tyaktena tyāgena jagata bhuñjīthāḥ bhogaṁ kurvīthāḥ. kasya siddhanaṁ kasya-chiddhanaṁ mā gṛdhaḥ na ākaṅkṣīḥ.

(“Everything in this world is covered by Īśvara. Therefore, one should practice tyāga [renunciation] along with bhoga [enjoyment]. One should not desire the wealth of others.”)

PURPORT

The Supreme Controller Himself has created this world by His own potency and through the influence of that potency, He has penetrated all things. O jīva! You are also a specific tattva manifesting from His energy. He is the Paramātmā, you are an ātmā, therefore in relation to the ātmā’s dharma, there can be no other greater than Him. For the time being, you are subject to illusion concerning your intrinsic identity, and have accepted everything for your own selfish enjoyment, claiming that it belongs to you. But if you accept everything in relation to the Paramātmā, who resides in all things, and you abandon selfishness, accept all things as belonging to another, offer it to the Supreme Controller and accept it as His prasāda, then everything becomes fully spiritual.


TEXT 2

kurvann eveha karmāṇi jijīviṣec chataṁ samāḥ
evaṁ tvayi nānyatheto ‘sti na karma lipyate nare

Vedārka Dīdhiti Commentary

iha jagati evaṁ prakāreṇa karmāṇi kurvan śataṁ samaḥ jijīviṣat. tvayi nare evaṁ jīvati sati karma na lipyate. itaḥ anyathā nāsti.

(“You should desire to live in this world for a hundred years by acting as previously described. If you live like this, you will not be defiled by karma. There is no other way.”)


PURPORT

If one performs activities by establishing that the Paramātmā resides in all things, then all actions become spiritual. Therefore, even if one lives for hundreds of years, such a jīva cannot be touched by any defect. In order to continue in this body, it is necessary to perform action, otherwise one’s life will end or it will not be accomplished very nicely. If one can live in this world by cultivating a relationship with the Paramātmā, then it will be seen that any action connected to him will not create any reaction. They will take the form of jñāna or bhakti. All actions performed with knowledge of Paramātmā are bhakti. Therefore Nārada says –

sarvopadhi-vinirmuktaṁ tat-paratvena nirmalam
hṛṣīkeṇa hṛṣīkeśa-sevanaṁ bhaktir uttamā

(“The highest type of bhakti is service to Hṛṣīkeśa through the engagement of the senses. It should be free from all mundane designations and purely for the purpose of serving he Lord.”)


TEXT 3

asuryā nāma te lokā andhena tamasāvṛtāḥ
tāṁs te pretyābhigacchanti ye ke cātma-hano janāḥ

Vedārka Dīdhiti Commentary

anyathā kurvvāṇ naraḥ ātma-hā bhavati. ye ke ātma-hanaḥ janaḥ te pretya andhena tamasāvṛtān asūryavān lokān gacchati.

(“Those who enjoy the world without establishing a relationship with the Paramātmā are ātmā-hā, or suicidal. When they leave the body, they go to that place which is attained by all those with evil tendencies [that are covered in darkness].”)


PURPORT

For those who do not act for the sake of dharma, do not practice dharma for the sake of detachment, and do not take shelter of detachment in order to cultivate the ātmā – all their actions, dharma and detachment are selfis. In other words, they are only for gratifying the senses, and not for helping cultivate the ātmā. Therefore their life is almost like death. The Bhāgavata says –

na yasya karma dharmāya na viragāya kalpate
na tīrtha-pada sevāyai jīvann api mṛto hi saḥ

(“One whose activities do not lead to dharma, nor detachment, nor service to the Lord’s divine feet, even though living, he is actually dead.”- Bhāgavatam 3.23.56)

For one who behaves like this in life, his ātmā is almost destroyed. That is why they are called suicidal. Such suicidal people gradually acquire demonic tendencies; the ātmā abandons its natural divine nature. Thus, while residing in this world and maintaining the material body, in every possible way, one should try to perform one’s activities while establishing a relationship with the Paramātmā. Such activities are karma in name only. In reality, they are transformed into service to Bhagavān.


TEXT 4

anejad ekaṁ manaso javīyo
nainad devā āpnuvan pūrvam arṣat
tad dhāvato ‘nyān atyeti tiṣṭhat
tasminn apo mātariśvā dadhāti

Vedārka Dīdhiti Commentary

anejat na ejat ejṛkaspane niścalaṁ iti arthaḥ. tat ātma-tattvaṁ niścalaṁ-ekaṁ. Manasaḥ javīyaḥ. devā indriyāṇi tat na āpanūvan prāpta-vastuḥ. yataḥ pūrvamarṣata pūrvaṁ eva gataṁ tat dhāvataḥ drataṁ gacchataḥ anyān manaḥ prabhṛtīn. atyeti atikrāmati. tat tiṣṭhat. tasmin ātmani mātariśvā vāyuḥ. apaḥ karmāṇi dadhāti dhāvayati.

(“The Paramātmā and the ātmā are stationary, they are individual, and they are faster than the mind. All the senses cannot grasp them since the ātmā precedes the senses. While the mind, etc., may run, the ātmā always excels them. When the ātmā remains inactive, Vāyu performs activities on his behalf.”)

PURPORT

It is understood that the word ātmā refers to any object that has the qualities of the ātmā. Therefore, when we say ātmā, we should understand this to refer to both the jīva and Paramātmā. Paramātmā is the super-consciousness (bṛhac-caitanya). The jīva is finite consciousness (anucaitanya). Although such divisions are eternal, the nature (dharma) of both are one. In Vedic statements, the word ātmā can be understood to be jīva, and in other places, the word ātmā can be understood to be Paramātmā. Wherever possible, this should be understood. Here (in this verse), the principle of ātmā refers to both. The superiority of a conscious object over the material and subtle worlds has been explained. The mind is the fastest within the gross and the subtle world. But that too falls behind the ātmā. Though the jīvātmā may remain dormant as a result of being under the sway of the māyā-śakti, it still performs its functions by accepting vāyu in the form of prāṇa. Paramātmā is immobile, but He is active through His icchā-śakti (His will-power potency) and kriyā-śakti (His creative potency) that take shelter of Him.


TEXT 5

tad ejati tan naijati tad dūre tad v antike
tad antar asya sarvasya tad u sarvasyāsya bāhyataḥ

Vedārka Dīdhiti Commentary

tad ejati tat ātma-tattvaṁ ejati chalati. tan-naijati ejati tad-dūre varttate. tad vantike varttate. tat antarasya sarvasya. tadu tat asya viśvasya sarvasya bāhyataḥ tiṣṭhati.

(“The ātmā-tattva [Paramātmā] is both moving and non-moving. He is both far and near, present within the universe and outside of it.”)


PURPORT

Just as material objects have jaḍa-śakti (material potency) inherent within them, so also transcendental objects have their own potency known as ātma-śakti. By this energy, all contradictory natures found in connection to matter find harmony in ātmā-tattva (transcendental reality). Animate and inanimate is naturally contradictory, near and far has contradictory natures, internal and external are contradictory – these cannot exist simultaneously in relation to mundane objects, yet it is possible that they can be harmonised due to the acintyaśakti (inconceivable potency) of the Paramātmā.


TEXT 6

yas tu sarvāṇi bhūtāny ātmany evānupaśyati
sarva-bhūteṣu cātmānaṁ tato na vijugupsate

Vedārka Dīdhiti Commentary

yaḥ tu ātmani sarvāṇi bhūtāni tanupaśyati sarva-bhūteṣu ca ātmānaṁ paśyati sa tataḥ tasmāt darśanāt na vijugupsate jugupsāṁ ghṛṇāṁ na karoti.

(“One who sees all beings in the Paramātmā and the Paramātmā in all beings, is devoid of hatred for anything.”)

PURPORT

Hatred is a principle which is opposed to love. If one is not devoid of hatred, one can never attain the wealth of divine love. For one who sees everything in connection to the Paramātmā, there is no object of hatred – hatred does not appear in such a person. He easily attains the treasure of divine love.


TEXT 7

yasmin sarvāṇi bhūtānyātmaivābhūd vijānataḥ
tatra ko mohaḥ kaḥ śoka ekatvam anupaśyataḥ

Vedārka Dīdhiti Commentary

yasmin kale sarvāṇi bhūtāni ātmā eva abhūt vijānataḥ ekatvaṁ anupaśyataḥ tasya tasmin kale ko mohaḥ kaḥ śokaḥ sambhavati?

(“At that time, when one sees oneness between all beings and the Paramātmā, how can there be illusion or misery for that wise man who sees with equal vision?”)


PURPORT

Illusion and misery are principles that are opposite to knowledge. When they exist in the heart, knowledge cannot remain in that place. Just as all hatred disappears in connection with the Paramātmā, illusion and misery also vanish. Therefore, it is necessary to make a connection with the Paramātmā.


TEXT 8

sa paryagāc chukram akāyam avraṇam
asnāviram śuddham apāpa-viddham
kavir manīṣī paribhūḥ svayambhūr
yāthātathyato ‘rthān vyadadhāc chāśvatībhyaḥ samābhyaḥ

Vedārka Dīdhiti Commentary

sa paramātmā paryagāt pari samastāt agāt. śukraṁ śuddhaṁ. akāyaṁ sthūla-liṅga-rūpa-jaḍa-deha-rahitaṁ. avraṇaṁ akṣataṁ. asnāviraṁ śnāvā śirā tacchūnyaṁ. śuddhaṁ upādhīśūnyaṁ. apāpa-viddhaṁ māyātītaṁ. kaviḥ kāstadarśī. manīṣī sarva-jñaḥ. paribhūḥ sarvoparī bhavati. svayambhūḥ svayaṁ siddhaḥ. yāthātakhyataḥ yathā tathā bhāvo yāthātakhyaṁ. sarvārthān sarva-padārthān tattat viśeṣa lakṣaṇena vyadadhyāt vihitavān. śāśvatībhyaḥ samābhyaḥ nityābhyaḥ vatasarebhyaḥ.

(“The Paramātmā pervades all. He is pure, without any form, cannot be harmed, without veins and nerves, without material designations, beyond māyā, wise, omniscient, self-manifested and superior to all. Through His own acintya-śakti, He arranges all other eternal objects by their specific tattvas.”)

PURPORT

dravyam karma ca kālaś ca svabhāvo jīva eva ca
yad anugrahataḥ santi na santi yad upekṣayā

(“By the mercy of the Supreme, the material components, karma, time, the modes of nature and the jīvas exist. Without that, they cannot exist.”- Bhāgavatam 2.10.12)

From this statement of the Bhāgavata, we can perceive that these five elements are dependent upon the Supreme Controller. These elements have been separated according to their specific inherent qualities. Nityo nityānāṁ cetanaś cetanānām eko bahūnām* – from this statement of the śruti, we understand that these five elements are eternal. The Paramātmā is supremely Eternal, who is the shelter for all other eternal elements. He does not possess a material form.

His perfect form is always transcendental. He executes all activities through his cit-śakti (spiritual potency).

* (“He is the eternal among all eternals, and the Supreme consciousness among all those who are conscious. He is the greatest among the many.” – Kaṭhopaniṣad 2.2.13)


TEXT 9

andhaṁ tamaḥ praviśanti ye ‘vidyām upāsate
tato bhūya iva te tamo ya u vidyāyām ratāḥ

Vedārka Dīdhiti Commentary

ye avidyāyāṁ upāsate te andhaṁ tamaḥ praviśanti. ye u tu vidyāyāṁ ratāh te tataḥ tasmāt adhikataraṁ tamaḥ praviśanti.

(“One situated in ignorance enters into a realm of complete darkness. And one engaged in knowledge enters a darker place than that.”)


PURPORT

Paramātmā Hari possesses acintyasvarūpa-śakti (inconceivable spiritual potency). The Śvetāśvatara Upaniṣad says this about that potency: parāsya śaktir vividhaiva śrūyate and jñāna bala kriyā ca * etc. These statements should be deliberated upon. An effect of that inconceivable potency is known as māyā.

* (“Indeed, it is heard that the Supreme has various potencies such as His jñāna-śakti, bala-śakti and kriyā-śakti.” – Śvetāśvatara Upaniṣad 6.8)

Through māyā, Paramātmā creates this world. Māyās functions are twofold – vidyā (knowledge) and avidyā (ignorance). Matter is destroyed by the function of vidyā. The function of avidyā creates matter. Men overwhelmed by matter are firmly fixed in the function of avidyā, thus their spiritual nature is eclipsed by the darkness of matter. Those who become indifferent to matter, though able to eliminate it, do not receive shelter of the svarūpa-śakti unless they engage in bhakti. Therefore, their ātmā seems to be destroyed as they enter into greater darkness. If the jīva does not establish a relationship with the Paramātmā in this world of māyā, then he can never be liberated from matter. When one decides to reject the various qualities of matter, then the anartha of nirviśeṣa (impersonalism) will appear and invade the consciousness, and this will cause specific problems for the jīva. The Devas have said:

ye ’nye ’ravindākṣa vimukta-māninas
tvayy asta-bhāväd aviśuddha-buddhayaḥ
āruhya kṛcchreṇa paraṁ padaṁ tataḥ
patanty adho ’nādṛta-yuṣmad-aṅghrayaḥ

(“O lotus-eyed One, although there are those who consider themselves to be liberated, because they have no connection to You, their intelligence is impure. Even upon achieving the highest position through executing great penances, they fall down from that position due to their neglecting Your lotus feet.” – Bhāgavatam 10.2.32)


TEXT 10

anyad evāhur vidyayānyad āhur avidyayā
iti śuśruma dhīrāṇāṁ ye nas tad vicacakṣire

Vedārka Dīdhiti Commentary

paramātmā tattvaṁ vidyayā anyat pṛthak iti dhīrāḥ āhuḥ avidyayā ca pṛthak āhuḥ ye dhīrāḥ paṇḍitāḥ tat tattvaṁ naḥ asmān vicacakṣire vyākhyāt-vastuḥ teṣāṁ dhīrāṇāṁ etad-vacanaṁ vayaṁ śuśrumaḥ.

(“The wise have said that knowledge concerning paramātmā-tattva is different from both vidyā and avidyā. We have heard this from the wise who have instructed us in this truth.”)


PURPORT

The ātmā is cid-vastu (a transcendental element). It is separate from both vidyā and avidyā. The Paramātmā can never be covered by māyā. When māyā acts, it is the svarūpa-śakti of the Paramātmā that gives her that capacity. Thus, Paramātmā is the controller of māyā. The jīvātmā is also cid-vastu, however:

bālāgra śata-bhāgasya śatadhā kalpitasya ca
bhāgo jīvaḥ sa vijṇeyaḥ sa cānantāya kalpate

(“When the tip of a hair is divided into one hundred parts, and one of those parts is again further divided into one hundred parts, one of those is the size of the the jīva. One who knows this is fit for liberation.” – Śvetāśvatara Upaniṣad 5.9)

From this statement of Śvetāśvatara Upaniṣad we know that the jīva is anu-caitanya. Since the jīva is not supreme, māyā subjugates him and he must totally comply. The jīva mourns under māyā’s subjugation. Enslaved by avidyā, he suffers in the darkness of total materialism. When he seeks refuge in vidyā to attain relief from this suffering, he becomes further troubled by contemplating impersonalism. Therefore, the Vedas say, “O jīva! The ātmātattva that you seek is different from vidyā and avidyā.”


TEXT 11

vidyāṁ cāvidyāṁ ca yas tad vedobhayaṁ saha
avidyayā mṛtyuṁ tīrtvā vidyayāmṛtam aśnute

Vedārka Dīdhiti Commentary

ye ātma-tattvaṁ vidyāṁ avidyāṁ ubhayaṁ veda sa avidyayā saha mṛtyuṁ tīrtvā vidyayā saha amṛtataṁ aśnūte.

(“One who knows ātmā-tattva as both vidyā and avidyā, overcomes death by avidyā, and enjoys immortality through vidyā.”)


PURPORT

Māyā is the shelter of vidyā and avidyā, and is not different to the citśakti of the Paramātmā. She is only a shadow, or a transformation. Everything present in a shadow has its complete and uncorrupted nature located with its original reality. Therefore, can there be any doubt that the most excellent ideal of vidyā and avidyā exists within the citśakti? If the jīva attempts to eliminate the transformations of vidyā and avidyā that accompany māyā, then by aiming for that ideal, he can see the special nature of the cit-śakti. By taking support from attributes, he will not be destroyed at the hands of mundane vidyā with its philosophy of no attributes (nirviśeṣa). Vidyā originating from māyā can lead the jīva away from mundane variegatedness and take him towards immortality. By seeing the ideal reality, the avidyā of māyā can be transformed. Then both the jīva in his transcendental form and the Supreme with His transcendental form, can both experience the highest rasa in their radiant transcendental relationship


TEXT 12

andhaṁ tamaḥ praviśanti ye ‘sambhūtim upāsate
tato bhūya iva te tamo ya u sambhūtyām ratāḥ

Vedārka Dīdhiti Commentary

ye asambhūtiṁ upāsate te andhaṁ tamaḥ praviśanti. ye sambhūtyāṁ ratāḥ te tataḥ tasmāt bhūyaḥ andhaṁ tamaḥ praviśānti.

(“Those who worship the unmanifest enter into darkness, and those who are engaged in the manifest enter into greater darkness.”)


PURPORT

When an object loses its attributes, it is said to have become unmanifest (asambhūti). Through merging or destruction etc. something becomes unmanifest. Those who seek impersonalism are worshippers of the unmanifest. Thus, such persons enter into darkness. It is not understood what happens to a jīva when his conscious existence disappears. There is no light whatsoever. Those who are engaged in the manifest (sambhūti), meaning mundane existence, are so far removed from the ātmā principle that they remain in the most horrible type of darkness.


TEXT 13

anyad evāhuḥ sambhavād anyad āhur asambhavāt
iti śuśruma dhīrāṇāṁ ye nas tad vicacakṣire

Vedārka Dīdhiti Commentary

ātma-tattvaṁ sambhavādasyat eva āhuḥ. asambhavāt anyat eva āhuḥ. ye dhīrā asmān tat vyākhyāt-vastuḥ teṣāṁ vacanaṁ vayaṁ śuśrumaḥ.

(“The principle of the ātmā [the Paramātmā and the finite ātmā] is different to both asambhūti and sambhūti [the impersonal aspect of the Supreme and material nature]. We have heard this from those wise men who understand philosophy.)


PURPORT

The feelings of attachment in the material world to the dualities of birth and annihilation, manifestation and merging, sambhūti and asambhūti, has nothing to do with ātmā-tattva, the principle of the ātmā. The ātmā principle is not born and can never be destroyed because it is eternal. Because the jīva is eternal, those who think that it is manifest and then it merges, know nothing about jīva-tattva. The jīva’s severing all connection with matter is known as mukti.


TEXT 14

sambhūtiṁ ca vināśaṁ ca
yas tad vedobhayaṁ saha
vināśena mṛtyuṁ tīrtvā
sambhūtyāmṛtam aśnute

Vedārka Dīdhiti Commentary

yaḥ ātma-tattvaṁ sambhūtiṁ vināśañca ubhayātmakaṁ iti veda sa vināśena mṛtyantītvā sambhūtyāṁ amṛtaṁ aśnute.

(“One who knows the ātmā principle as having the attributes of both [spiritual] sambhūti and vināśa [the destruction of matter], overcomes death through vināśa and enjoys immortality by attaining [spiritual] sambhūti.”)

PURPORT

Association with matter is the reason for the jīva’s bondage and death. Therefore, one who achieves separation from matter and destroys it goes beyond death. Then he attains cit-sambhūti, which refers to spiritual existence, where he continues to relish cinmaya-rasāmṛta (the nectar of divine mellows). However, even if one attains asambhūti (destruction of matter), but does not accept citsambhūti, he is totally doomed.


TEXT 15

hiraṇmayena pātreṇa satyasyāpihitaṁ mukham
tat tvaṁ pūṣann apāvṛṇu satya-dharmāya dṛṣṭaye

Vedārka Dīdhiti Commentary

hiraṇmayena jyotirs-mayena pātrena satyasya parama-tattvasya mukhaṁ apahitaṁ ācchāditaṁ. satya-dharmāya dṛṣṭaye upalabdhaye he pūṣan tat pidhānaṁ tvaṁ apāvṛṇu.

(“Paramātmā’s form is concealed by a covering of light. O Sūrya! Remove that covering so Your true nature and the principle of the ātmā can manifest.”)


PURPORT

O Supreme Controller, You are the spiritual sun (cit-sūrya). I am Your finite ray. I am very insignificant. Even though I can see, Your effulgence does not allow me to take darśana of Your eternal form. For this reason, I cannot understand Your true nature (satya-dharma) and I am covered over by the māyā potency, the shadow of Your citśakti. Kindly remove Your dazzling covering. Then it will be help this finite conscious entity take darśana of Your form. Seeing that form, the Mahātmā Nārada said, jyotirabhyantare rūpam atulaṁ śyāmasundaraṁ. *

* (“The incomparable form of Śyāmasundara is within that effulgence.”Nārada-pañcarātra 1.3)


TEXT 16

pūṣann ekarṣe yama sūrya prājāpatya
vyūha raśmīn samūha
tejo yat te rūpaṁ kalyāṇa-tamaṁ
tat te paśyāmi yo’sāv asau puruṣaḥ so’ham asmi

Vedārka Dīdhiti Commentary

he puṣan! he ekarṣe! he yama! he sūrya! he prājāpatya! raśmīn vyaha vigamaya. tejaḥ samūha upasaṁhara. yat te kalyāṇatamaṁ rūpaṁ tat te rūpaṁ ahaṁ paśyāmi. yataḥ ahaṁ tat adhikārī. ya eva pūrṇaḥ puruṣaḥ sa eva asau-puruṣaḥ. sa eva ahaṁ asmi.

(“O Puṣan, O Ekarṣi, O Sūrya, O Prajāpatya! Please remove all Your rays, curb Your effulgence. Then I can see Your exceedingly auspicious form. I am eligible to see that form. Since You are the complete Absolute Personality [pūrṇapuruṣa], You enter the world in Your manifestation as Paramātmā, and we are all cit-svarūpa [spiritual entities by nature]. By Your mercy we can see you.”)


PURPORT

Although You are the complete Absolute Personality, You also appear as the puruṣāvatāra, the controller of māyā. You employ all Your various potencies to regulate māyā, and being the repository of all those different potencies, You bear such names as Pūsā, Ekarṣi, Yama, Sūrya, and Prajāpatya Vāmana etc. * Entangled within matter, I think of all the forms of Your avatāras and I long to take darśana of Your eternal form. By Your mercy, this finite conscious being may become eligible to see Your eternal form. All auspicious qualities take shelter within Your eternal form. You have situated me in a spiritual form; thus, by your mercy, I can take darśana of Your eternal form.

* Vāmana is the son of Prajāpati Kaśyapa.


TEXT 17

vāyur anilam amṛtam
athedaṁ bhasmāntaṁ śarīram
oṁ krato smara kṛtaṁ smara
krato smara kṛtaṁ smara

Vedārka Dīdhiti Commentary

Mad-dehasthaṁ vāyuḥ tava parama-vyomāntara-gataṁ anilaṁ amṛtaṁ bhūyāt. idaṁ jaḍa-śarīraṁ liṅga-śarīrañca jñānāgni-nā bhasmi-bhūtaṁ bhavatu iti yāccha. he krato manaḥ kartvayaṃ smara kṛtaṁ smara krato smara kṛtaṁ smara iti punar-vachanaṁ ādara-ārthaṁ

(“May the material life-airs residing in my body acquire an eternal nature as spiritual life-airs in Vaikuṇṭha! May my gross and subtle bodies burn to ashes. O mind, remember your duties. Remember what you have done.”)


PURPORT

Although a prayer for liberation from matter is not suitable for bhakti, such a prayer is made in karma-miśra-bhakti (devotion mixed with karma) and is a gateway to service. In this mantra, there is a remembrance of bhakti along with liberation from matter.

TEXT 18

agne naya supathā rāye asmān
viśvāni deva vayunāni vidvān
yuyodhy asmaj juhurāṇam eno
bhūyiṣṭhāṁ te nama-uktiṁ vidhema

Vedārka Dīdhiti Commentary

he agne! supathā śobhanena mārgena rāye paramārthāya māṁ naya. he deva! vayunāni prajñānāni viśvāni sarvāṇi vidvān jānan naya. kiñca asmat juhurāṇaṁ avidyā kautilyāṁ eṇaḥ pāpaṁ yuyodhi-vināśāya. vayaṁ bhūyiṣṭāṁ bahutarāṁ nama uktiṁ vidhema.

(“O Agni! Please guide us on the right path towards spiritual wealth. O Deva! Please guide us, since You are aware of our realisation in connection to all things of this world. We possess the pāpa of dishonesty stemming from avidyā – please destroy this. We offer our respects unto You again and again.”)


PURPORT

When the jīva remembers his vices, he becomes desperate for mukti. Thus, he is addressing the pure Supreme Controller as Agni. The purifying potency of fire is perfected when in connection with the Supreme Controller. Then the jīva sees that there is no other means except bhakti to Bhagavān, utilising jñāna and vairagya (renunciation). Therefore, he prays in his way. Jñāna means īśvarajñāna (knowledge of the Supreme). First one has knowledge of the world, then one progresses to īśvara-jñāna and then one attains vijñāna (realisation), and from vijñāna one attains prajñāna, which is bhakti. Etad vijñāya prajñānaṁ kurvīta * – this statement of the Vedas should be remembered in this regard.

tac chraddadhānā munayo jñāna-vairāgya-yuktayā
paśyanty ātmani cātmānaṁ bhaktyā śruta-gṛhītayā

(“Those sages who are endowed with faith, proper knowledge and detachment, perceive the ātmā and the Paramātmā within through the process of bhakti, after hearing that Absolute Truth by rendering devotional service after hearing from the guru.”- Bhāgavatam 1.2.12)

In this regard, one should deliberate upon this statement from the Bhāgavata.

* (“Let one who is wise, after he has discovered Him, practise prajñāna (bhakti).” – Bṛhad-Āraṇyaka Upaniṣad 4. 4.21)

 


vedārka-dīdhiti vayaṁ bhajana-pradīpaḥ gaurāṅga-bhakta-prada bhaktivinodakena
śrī-godrume dvijapateś-caraṇa prasādāta prajvālitaḥ surabhi-kuñja vanāntarāle

(“By the mercy stemming from the feet of the Lord of the twice-born who resides in Śrī Godruma, Bhaktivinoda, living in the forest of Surabhi-kuñja, has composed this commentary, vedārka-dīdhiti, for the pleasure of the devotees of Gaurāṅga.”)

iti vājasaneya-saṁhitopaniṣadi vedārka-dīdhitiḥ samāptaḥ

(“Thus ends the vedārka-dīdhiti commentary on the Vājasaneya Saṁhita Upaniṣad)

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