Sūtra 3.3.8

Sanskrit text, Unicode transliteration, Word-for-word and English translation of Sūtra 3.3.8:

न वा प्रकरण-भेदात् परोवरीयस्त्वादि-वत्

na vā prakaraṇa-bhedāt parovarīyastvādi-vat

na – not; vā – or; prakaraṇa – of devotion; bhedāt – because of differences; parovarīyastva – greater than the greatest; ādi – beginning with; vat – like.

“Certainly not. Because of the differences in devotion. Like the Parovarīya and others.” (8)

Sūtra pagination:
Adhyāya 3:
  Devotional Service;
Pāda 3:
  Worshiping the Lord’s Attributes;
Adhikaraṇa 3:
  The Ekāntī Devotees do not Meditate on all the Lord’s Qualities.

Baladeva Vidyābhūṣaṇa’s commentary (Govinda-bhāṣya)

The word vā [or] is used in the sense of “certainly.” The ekāntī devotees do not bring the qualities of the Lord’s other forms into the specific form they have selected to worship. In this way the ekāntī devotees who are exclusively devoted to Lord Kṛṣṇa do not think of Lord Nṛsiṃha’s mane, teeth, fearsomeness, and other qualities as present in Lord Kṛṣṇa. In the same way the ekāntī devotees who are exclusively devoted to Lord Nṛsiṃha do not think of Lord Kṛṣṇa’s flute, stick, peacock feather and other qualities as present in Lord Nṛsiṃha. Why is that? The sūtra explains, prakaraṇa-bhedāt: “Because of the differences in devotion.”

The word prakaraṇa here means “the most exalted [pra] activity [karaṇa].” Therefore the word prakaraṇa here refers to devotional service. The word bhedāt here means “because of the differences.”

Because it is more intense and deep, the devotion of the ekaṇtī devotees is more exalted than the devotion of the sva-niṣṭha devotees. Here the author of the sūtras gives and example. He says: “Like the Parovarīya and others.” This means that the ekāntī devotees who are exclusively devoted to the Lord’s form as the Hiraṇya Puruṣa in the sun planet do not ascribe to their object of worship the qualities of the Lord’s form as Parovarīya, a form worshiped by the worshipers of Udgītha. The word Parovarīya means “greater than the greatest.” The example here is of the worshipers of Ugītha in relation to Parovarīya.

Here someone may object: “Is it not so that the ekāntīs and svaniṣṭhas are both called devotees of the Lord and therefore they must both meditate on all the Lord’s qualities just as they who call themselves brāhmaṇas must all meditate on the Gāyatrī mantra?”

If this is said, then the author of the sūtras gives the following reply.