svenaiva lābhena samaṁ praśāntam
svenaiva lābhena samaṁ praśāntam
vinopasarpaty aparaṁ hi bāliśaḥ
śva-lāṅgulenātititarti sindhum
The great fool who is trying to cross the ocean of saṁsāra by holding onto a dog’s tail approaches anyone except the Lord, for whom nothing is astonishing to accomplish, who is full in his desires with a perfect form, and who is gentle with his devotees.
The intelligent person should not surrender to anyone else. A really foolish person approaches someone else for shelter—devatās, karma-yoga or jñāna-yoga. The wise person does not do so. It is just like a person desiring to cross the ocean by holding a dog’s tail. The dog cannot cross the ocean, what to speak of the man holding his tail. The dog, seeing the man holding his tail, will throw him off in the water, and the dog also will drown. However, it is not astonishing that the person who takes shelter of the Lord crosses the ocean of saṁsāra. Thus the Lord is described as avismitam, without surprises. Though it is astonishing that, without the Lord, some try to cross the ocean of saṁsāra, it is not astonishing to cross by taking shelter of the Lord, since that ocean immediately becomes like the water in a calf’s footprint. The Lord is always complete in his desires along with (samam) the attainment of svarūpa of seven types of sweetness.[90] He has enjoyment bestowed through his hlādinī-śakti. The Lord is gentle (praśāntam), tolerant of his devotees though they commit sevāparadha, since he is affectionate to them.
|| 6.9.23 ||
yasyoru-śṛṅge jagatīṁ sva-nāvaṁ
manur yathābadhya tatāra durgam
sa eva nas tvāṣṭra-bhayād durantāt
|
