SB 1.7.10 (1964)
A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada
TEXT No. 10
Atmaramas cha munayo nirgrantha api urukrame kurvanti ahaituki bhakti itthambhuta gunah Hari
ENGLISH SYNONYMS
Atmaramas—Those who take pleasure in Atma (generally spirit self) Cha—also, Munayo—sages, Nirgrantha—freed from all bondage, Api—inspite of, Urukrame—unto the Great Adventurer, Kurvanti—do, Ahaituki—unalloyed Bhakti—devotional service, Itthambhuta—such wonderful, Gunah—qualities Hari—of the Lord.
TRANSLATION
All different varieties of Atmaramas especially those who are fixed up on the path of self realisation even though they are freed from all kinds of material bondage, do desire to render unalloyed devotional service unto the Personality of Godhead. This means that the Lord is possessed of transcendental qualities and therefore can attract everyone including the liberated souls.
PURPORT
Lord Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu explained this Atmarama sloka very vividly before His chief devotee Srila Sanatan Goswami. He points out eleven factors in the Sloka namely 1. Atmarama, 2. Munaya, 3. Nirgrantha, 4. Api, 5. Cha, 6. Urukrama, 7. Kurvanti, 8. Ahaituki, 9. Bhakti, 10. Ithhambhuta gunah, 11. Hari. According to 'Viswa Prakash' Sanskrit Dictionary he finds out seven synonyms for the word Atmarama which are as follows; 1. Brahman (The Absolute Truth), 2. body, 3. mind, 4. endeavour, 5. endurance, 6. intelligence, and 7. personal habits.
The word Munaya conveys 1. Those who are thoughtful, 2. Grave or silent, 3. Ascetic, 4. Persistent, 5. Mendicant, 6. Sage, 7. Saint.
The word Nirgantha conveys the ideas 1. liberated from nescience 2. One who has no connection with scriptural injunction i.e. freed from the obligation of the rules and regulations mentioned in the revealed scriptures like ethics, Vedas, philosophy, psychology, metaphysics etc. In other words the fools, illiterate, urchins etc. who have no connection with regulative principles. 3. Nirgrantha means also the capitalist and also 4. One who is pennyless.
According Sabdakosha Dictionary the affix Ni is used in the sense of 1. certainty, 2. counting, 3. building, 4. forbiddance, and the grantha word is used in the sense of wealth, thesis, vocabulary etc,
The word Urukram means the one whose activities are glorious. And Krama means step. This word specifically indicates the Lord's incarnation of Vamana Who covered the whole universe by immeasurable forwarding of steps. Lord Vishnu is powerful and His activities are so much glorious that He has created the spiritual world by internal potency and the material world by external potency. By His all pervading features He is everywhere present as the Supreme Truth and in His personal feature He is always present in His transcendental abode of Goloka Vrindaban where He displays His transcendental mellows in all variegatedness. His activities cannot be compared with anyone else and therefore the word Urukram is just applicable to Him only.
According to Sanskrit verbal arrangement Kurvanti means to do things for some body else. Therefore, it means that the Atmaramas do render devotional service unto the Lord not for personal interest but for the pleasure of the Lord Urukrama.
Hetu means causal. There are many causes for one's sense satisfaction and they can be chiefly classified as material enjoyment, mystic powers and liberation which are generally desired by progressive persons. So far material enjoyments are concerned they are innumerable and the materialists are eager to increase them more and more because they are under the illusory energy. There is no end of the list of material enjoyment neither anyone in the material universe is able to have all of them. So far the mystic powers are concerned they are eight in all such as to become the minutest in form, to become weightless, to have anything what one may desire, to lord it over the material nature, to bring in control other living being, to throw earthly globes in the outer space etc. These perfections of mystic powers are mentioned in the Bhagwatam (11.15). The forms of liberations are five in number. Therefore, unalloyed devotion means service to the Lord with out any desire for all the above mentioned different grades of personal benefit. And the powerful Personality of Godhead Sri Krishna can be fully satisfied by such unalloyed devotees free from all sorts of desires for personal benefit.
Unalloyed devotional service of the Lord is elevated in different stages of the development. Practice of devotional service in the material field are of eighty one different qualities and above such material field of activities there is transcendental practice of devotional service which is one and is called Sadhan Bhakti. When such unalloyed practice of Sadhan Bhakti is matured into transcendental love for the Lord then transcendental loving service of the Lord begins gradually developing into nine progressive stages of loving service under the headings of attachment, love, affection, feelings, affinity, adherence, following, ecstacy, intense feelings of separation.
Attachment of an inactive devotee develops up to the stage of transcendental love of God. Attachment of an active servitor develops up to the stage of adherence, and that for a friendly devotee, develops up to the stage of following and the same is also for the paternal devotees. Devotees in conjugal love develop ecstacy up to the stage of intese feelings of separation. These are some of the features of unalloyed devotional service of the Lord.
According to Haribhaktisudhodaya the import of the word itthambhuta is complete bliss. Transcendental bliss in the realisation of impersonal Brahman becomes comparable with scanty water contained in the pit made by impression of cow's hoop, with ocean of bliss caused by the vision of the personality of Godhead. The personal Form of Lord Sri Krishna is so attractive that it comprehends all attraction, all bliss and all mellows. These attractions are so much strong that nobody wants to exchange material enjoyment, mystic powers and liberation for these transcendental bliss. There is no need of logical arguments in support of this statements but out of ones own nature one becomes-attracted by the qualities of Lord Sri Krishna, We must know it for certain that the qualities of the Lord have nothing to do with mundane qualities. All of them are full of bliss, knowledge and eternity. There are innumerable qualities of the Lord and some one is attracted by one quality while other is attracted by the other.
Great sages like the four bachelor devotees Sanak, Sanatan, Sananda and Sanatkumar were attracted by the fragrance of flowers and tulsi leaves anointed with the pulp of sandalwood offered at the lotus feet of the Lord. Similarly Sukdeva Goswami was attracted by the transcendental pastimes of the Lord. Sukdeva Goswami was already situated in liberated stage from all sorts of material affinities and still he was attracted by the pastimes of the Lord; it proves that the quality of His pastimes have nothing to do with material affinity. Similarly the young cowherd damsels were attracted by the bodily features of the Lord and Rukmini was attracted by hearing about the glories of the Lord. Lord Krishna attracts even the mind of the goddess of Fortune. He attracts in special cases the mind of all young girls. He attracts the mind of the elderly ladies by pateral affection. He attracts the minds of the male in the humour of servitude and friendship.
The word Hari conveys various meaning but the chief imports of the word are that He (the Lord) vanquishes all inauspiciousness and takes away the mind of the devotee by awarding pure transcendental love. By remembering the Lord in acute distress one can be free from all varieties of miseries and anxieties. Gradually the Lord vanquishes all obstacles on the path of devotional service of a pure devotee and the result of nine devotional activities such as hearing, chanting etc, becomes manifested.
By His personal features and transcendental attributes, the Lord attracts all psychological activities of a pure devotee and such is the attractive power of Lord Krishna. The attractions is so powerful that a pure devotee never hankers for anyone of the four principles of religiousity. These are the attractive features of the transcendental attributes of the Lord. And adding to this the word api and cha one can increase the imports unlimitedly. According to Sanskrit grammer there are seven synonyms for the word Api. So even by literary interpretations of each and every word of this sloka one can bring about unlimited number of transcendental qualities of Lord Krishna to attract the mind of a pure devotee.