namāma te deva padāravindaṁ
devā ūcuḥ
namāma te deva padāravindaṁ
prapanna-tāpopaśamātapatram
yan-mūla-ketā yatayo ’ñjasoru-
saṁsāra-duḥkhaṁ bahir utkṣipanti
The devatās said: O Supreme Lord! We offer respects to your lotus feet which are the umbrella which relieves the suffering of those surrendered to you. The devotees who take shelter of the soles of your feet quickly uproot the suffering of material life.
Ātapartam means umbrella. Those who take shelter (ketā) of the soles of your lotus feet, the devotees and not others, quickly throw far away at the root (uru) the suffering of material life. When one casts off to a great distance a leech attached to one’s body with force, it does not come back. They throw it quickly, at the root, and at a great distance. Those who do not take shelter of the Lord’s feet throw off material life with delay and not at the root, and again get attacked by material life. It should be understood that even if there were no devotees present at that the beginning of creation, by knowledge of the conclusion of all scriptures, these knowers of truth, knowers of past present and future, proclaimed this.
|| 3.5.40 ||
dhātar yad asmin bhava īśa jīvās
tāpa-trayeṇābhihatā na śarma
ātman labhante bhagavaṁs tavāṅghri-
cchāyāṁ sa-vidyām ata āśrayema
O maintainer! O Lord! Bhagavān! Since the jīvas, afflicted by the three miseries, do not attain peace within themselves in the material world, even with knowledge, we take shelter of the shade of your lotus feet.
The suffering of material life is rooted in ignorance and by knowledge it is alleviated. Can those who possess knowledge get freedom from suffering? This verse explains that bhakti alone is the process. Without worshiping your feet the jīvas do not get peace in this material word (asmin bhave) within the self (atman), even if they have knowledge (sa-vidyām). Ātman stands for ātmani. Or ātman can be a vocative case. Knowledge only exists in the shade of your lotus feet and nowhere else. Without bhakti, jñāna cannot reach its goal. Such persons are false jñānīs.
|| 3.5.41 ||
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