Verse 1.3.77

Sanskrit text, Unicode transliteration, Word-for-word and English translation of verse 1.3.77:

नाहम् आत्मानम् आशासे मद्-भक्तैः साधुभिर् विना ।
श्रियम् आत्यन्तिकीं वापि येषां गतिर् अहं परा ॥ ७७ ॥

nāham ātmānam āśāse mad-bhaktaiḥ sādhubhir vinā |
śriyam ātyantikīṃ vāpi yeṣāṃ gatir ahaṃ parā || 77 ||

"I am the supreme goal. I do not aspire for My majestic opulences or My most beloved Śrī Lakṣmī without My saintly bhaktas who have taken supreme refuge in Me."

Commentary: Dig-darśinī-ṭīkā with Bhāvānuvāda

(By Śrīla Sanātana Gosvāmī himself including a deep purport of that commentary)

Śrī Bhagavān declares, “I am the ultimate refuge (parama-gati) of all saintly bhaktas without whom I desire neither My own Self nor our devoted Śrī Lakṣmī who is like My very Soul.” Śrī Bhagavān spoke this śloka to Durvāsā Muni in the Ninth Canto (Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam or Bhāgavata Purāṇa 9.4.64).

Śrī Bhagavān also declares (Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam or Bhāgavata Purāṇa 9.4.63, 66):

अहं भक्त-पराधीनो ह्य् अस्वतन्त्र इव द्विज
साधुभिर् ग्रस्त-हृदयो भक्तैर् भक्त-जन-प्रियः
मयि निर्बद्ध-हृदयाः साधवः सम-दर्शनाः
वशे कुर्वन्ति मां भक्त्या सत्-स्त्रियः सत्-पतिं यथा

ahaṃ bhakta-parādhīno hy asvatantra iva dvija
sādhubhir grasta-hṛdayo bhaktair bhakta-jana-priyaḥ
mayi nirbaddha-hṛdayāḥ sādhavaḥ sama-darśanāḥ
vaśe kurvanti māṃ bhaktyā sat-striyaḥ sat-patiṃ yathā

I am subordinate to My devotees. Except for My devotees, I have no independence. Devotees have bound my heart. Saintly sādhus who see equally everywhere have bound their hearts to Me. Just as a chaste wife brings her husband fully under her control, My devotees fully control Me.

Again, in the Eleventh Canto (Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam or Bhāgavata Purāṇa 11.14.15) Śrī Bhagavān says to Śrī Uddhava:

न तथा मे प्रियतम आत्म-योनिर् न शङ्करः
न च सङ्कर्षणो न श्रीर् नैव्-आत्मा च यथा भवान्

na tathā me priyatama ātma-yonir na śaṅkaraḥ
na ca saṅkarṣaṇo na śrīr naiv-ātmā ca yathā bhavān

Just as you, My beloved devotee, are dearer than My own son, Brahmā, or Saṅkara, My direct manifestation—you are also more dear than My brother Saṅkarṣaṇa or consort Lakṣmī—what to speak of My very own Self.

How dear are devotees to you? In reply to this question, Śrī Bhagavān intends to say in this verse, yathā bhakta-gaṇa (just as devotees); however, due to being overwhelmed with divine ecstasy, He says, yathā bhavan (just as you). The inner motive for speaking this way is to establish the special glories of His devotees.