Verse 2.1.50

Sanskrit text, Unicode transliteration, Word-for-word and English translation of verse 2.1.50:

स्व-जप्यं गौरवाद् देव्यास् तथान्तः-सुख-लाभतः ।
अत्यजन्न् एकदा स्वप्नेऽपश्यत् तन्-मन्त्र-देवताम् ॥ ५० ॥

sva-japyaṃ gauravād devyās tathāntaḥ-sukha-lābhataḥ |
atyajann ekadā svapne'paśyat tan-mantra-devatām || 50 ||

sva-japyam–to be chanted by him; gauravāt–out of respect; devyāḥ–from the goddess; tathā–then; antaḥ–internal; sukha–happiness; lābhataḥ–because of obtaining; atyajan–not giving up; ekadā–once; svapne–in a dream; apaśyat–he saw; tat-mantradevatām–that mantra’s presiding Deity.

Due to the brāhmaṇa’s reverence for Kāmākhyā-devī and his experience of internal happiness, he did not give up chanting his mantra. Some days passed, and then one night, in a dream he had a vision of his mantra’s presiding Deity.

Commentary: Dig-darśinī-ṭīkā with Bhāvānuvāda

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

Now, after presenting the glories of devotional service to Bhagavān, Śrī Parīkṣit speaks four verses, beginning here with sva-japyam, to explain why the brāhmaṇa declined to take sannyāsa. He says, “By associating with those sannyāsīs, the brāhmaṇa lost faith in chanting his mantra, but still he did not give up the chanting. His reverence for Kāmākhyā-devī was the reason behind this. He had faith in her divine pre-eminence and so he respected her instructions. Therefore, although he had a desire to accept sannyāsa, he did not.”

Śrī Uttarā-devī may question, “Although he heard statements from the Vedānta, why did he not respect them?”

Śrī Parīkṣit replies, “Even though he heard quotes from the Vedānta establishing the superiority of liberation, the brāhmaṇa did not experience internal happiness. He did, however, experience that happiness in chanting his mantra. But if he had not received darśana of the mantra’s presiding Deity, Śrī Madana-gopāla, in his dream, it would have been impossible for him to eliminate his urge for liberation.” Alternatively, it may be said that the mantra’s Deity, Śrī Madana-gopāla, appeared in his dream to reveal to him the glories of the mantra. Feeling apathy toward impersonal liberation is the natural and direct consequence of chanting the mantra. Receiving audience of the Lord in a dream is only an incidental or secondary result.