kriyārthātmā nirantaraḥ
kriyārthātmā nirantaraḥ
mayy arpitātmanaḥ puṁso
mayi sannyasta-karmaṇaḥ
na paśyāmi paraṁ bhūtam
akartuḥ sama-darśanāt
Superior to the jñānī is the person who fully dedicates his activities such hearing and chanting, his wealth, his identity, his mind and his intelligence to me. I do not see a greater living entity that this person who has offered himself to me, giving up all varṇāśrama actions, who thinks that the Lord alone inspires his bhakti, and who identifies with others’ happiness and distress.
Superior to the jñānī is the person who engages in worship of my name and forms, and offers his wealth (artha), identity of I and mine, mind and intelligence (ātmā) to me, without the impurity of karma or jñāna (nirantara). He renounces all karmas in order to attain me (mayi sannyasta-karmaṇaḥ), having given up varṇāśrama, for it has been said:
mayy ananyena bhāvenabhaktiṁ kurvanti ye dṛḍhām
mat-kṛte tyakta-karmāṇas tyakta-svajana-bāndhavāḥ
They perform firm bhakti to me with exclusive devotion, giving up all actions to attain me, giving up friends and relatives. SB 3.25.22
He is a non-doer (akartuḥ). Since he is without identity as an independent doer, he thinks, “Even in my performance of bhakti, the Supreme Lord produces my bhakti.” He sees all others’ happiness and distress as his own (sama-darśanāt). The Lord himself says:
ātmaupamyena sarvatra samaṁ paśyati yo ’rjuna |
sukhaṁ vā yadi vā duḥkhaṁ sa yogī paramo mataḥ
I consider that practicing yogī who sees equally everything as equal to himself in all circumstances, whether in happiness or suffering, to be the topmost yogī. BG 6.32
Sama-darśana does not have the same meaning as the Gītā verse describing the person who sees the brāhmaṇa, cow, elephant, dog and dog-eater as equal (BG 5.18), since that interpretation would contradict the present section of classification of inferior and superior beings.
|| 3.29.34 ||
manasaitāni bhūtāni
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