Srimad Bhagavatam Canto 8 Chapter 3 Verse 16

Canto 8: Withdrawal of the Cosmic Creations | Chapter 3: Gajendra's Prayers of Surrender

Bhaktivedanta VedaBase: Śrīmad Bhāgavatam 8.3.16

guṇāraṇi-cchanna-cid-uṣmapāya

tat-kṣobha-visphūrjita-mānasāya

naiṣkarmya-bhāvena vivarjitāgama-

svayaḿ-prakāśāya namas karomi

SYNONYMS

guṇa — by the three guṇas, the modes of material nature (sattva, rajas and tamas); araṇi — by araṇi wood; channa — covered; cit — of knowledge; uṣmapāya — unto He whose fire; tat-kṣobha — of the agitation of the modes of material nature; visphūrjita — outside; mānasāya — unto He whose mind; naiṣkarmya-bhāvena — because of the stage of spiritual understanding; vivarjita — in those who give up; āgama — Vedic principles; svayam — personally; prakāśāya — unto He who is manifest; namaḥ karomi — I offer my respectful obeisances.

TRANSLATION

My Lord, as the fire in araṇi wood is covered, You and Your unlimited knowledge are covered by the material modes of nature. Your mind, however, is not attentive to the activities of the modes of nature. Those who are advanced in spiritual knowledge are not subject to the regulative principles directed in the Vedic literatures. Because such advanced souls are transcendental, You personally appear in their pure minds. Therefore I offer my respectful obeisances unto You.

PURPORT

In Bhagavad-gītā (10.11) it is said:

teṣām evānukampārtham

aham ajñāna-jaḿ tamaḥ

nāśayāmy ātma-bhāva stho

jñāna-dīpena bhāsvatā

For a devotee who has taken the lotus feet of the Lord within his heart, the Lord gives spiritual enlightenment, known as jñāna-dīpa, by special mercy from within. This jñāna-dīpa is compared to the fire hidden within araṇi wood. To perform fire sacrifices, great sages previously did not ignite a fire directly; the fire would be invoked from araṇi wood. Similarly, all living entities are covered by the modes of material nature, and the fire of knowledge can be ignited only by the Supreme Personality of Godhead when one takes Him within one's heart. Sa vai manaḥ kṛṣṇa-padāravindayoḥ. If one takes seriously the lotus feet of Kṛṣṇa, who is seated within one's heart, the Lord eradicates all ignorance. By the torch of knowledge, one immediately understands everything properly by the special mercy of the Supreme Lord and becomes self-realized. In other words, although a devotee may externally not be very well educated, because of his devotional service the Supreme Personality of Godhead gives him enlightenment from within. If the Lord gives enlightenment from within, how can one be in ignorance? Therefore the allegation of the Māyāvādīs that the devotional path is for the unintelligent or uneducated is untrue.

yasyāsti bhaktir bhagavaty akiñcanā

sarvair guṇais tatra samāsate surāḥ

If one becomes an unalloyed devotee of the Supreme Lord, he automatically manifests all good qualities. Such a devotee is above the instructions of the Vedas. He is a paramahaḿsa. Even without going through the Vedic literature, a devotee becomes pure and enlightened by the mercy of the Lord. "Therefore, my Lord," the devotee says, "I offer my respectful obeisances unto You."

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His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda, Founder Ācārya of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness