Verse 1.2.52

Sanskrit text, Unicode transliteration, Word-for-word and English translation of verse 1.2.52:

परमान्वेषणायासैर् यस्योद्देशोऽपि न त्वया ।
पुरा प्राप्तः परं दृष्टस् तपोभिर् हृदि यः क्षणम् ॥ ५२ ॥

paramānveṣaṇāyāsair yasyoddeśo'pi na tvayā |
purā prāptaḥ paraṃ dṛṣṭas tapobhir hṛdi yaḥ kṣaṇam || 52 ||

At the beginning of the kalpa, after searching for a long time inside the lotus stem, you still could not have His darśana. Then after performing severe tapasyā you were able to get a moment’s darśana within your heart.

Commentary: Dig-darśinī-ṭīkā with Bhāvānuvāda

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

After describing the necessity of the special mercy of Bhagavān in terms of a rare attainable object, the author explains the subject matter of the extreme rarity of Śrī Padmanābha Himself, beginning with the word parama.

“You are parama because of your searching for so many long years. After Padmanābha entered the cosmic waters of His lotus navel in the beginning of this kalpa, you could not obtain the Supreme Lord. You could not even determine the truth of His residence, what to speak of knowledge of His existence.

“In this way, not being able to obtain Him in the beginning of this kalpa, you obtained His momentary darśana in your heart only after performing severe tapasyā at the end of the kalpa.” The topic that relates to this is in the Second Canto of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. That same difficult to attain Śrī Padmanābha is now residing personally here in your city.