Verse 2.1.124

Sanskrit text, Unicode transliteration, Word-for-word and English translation of verse 2.1.124:

मया तु किम् इदं लब्धं किम् अस्य फलम् एव वा ।
मन्त्रः कथं साधनीय इति ज्ञातं न किञ्चन ॥ १२४ ॥

mayā tu kim idaṃ labdhaṃ kim asya phalam eva vā |
mantraḥ kathaṃ sādhanīya iti jñātaṃ na kiñcana || 124 ||

mayā–by me; tu–indeed; kim–what?; idam–this; labdham–received; kim–what?; asya–of it; phalam–fruit; eva–certainly; vā–or; mantraḥ–the divine vibration; katham–how?; sādhanīyaḥ–to be practiced; iti–thus; jñātam–known; na kiñcana–nothing.

I began to deeply ponder, “What have I received? Is this a song or a mantra? What result can it bestow? If this is a mantra, how should it be practiced? I could not understand anything regarding these subject matters.”

Commentary: Dig-darśinī-ṭīkā with Bhāvānuvāda

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

Śrī Gopa-kumāra says, “What is the meaning of this ten-syllable object? Is it a song, a mantra, or something else? What are its specific characteristics? If it is a mantra, what is its sādhana? Does one practice it with quiet chanting (japa), or with singing (kīrtana)? If this is a perfected mantra, what fruit does it yield?” Gopakumāra’s spiritual master had told him that this mantra can fulfill any kind of desire he might have. In other words, the result of worshiping this mantra is that one attains all the objects of one’s desires. However, since Gopa-kumāra was ignorant and lacked resolute intelligence, he began to speculate about what fruit the mantra would bear.