Verse 2.1.158

Sanskrit text, Unicode transliteration, Word-for-word and English translation of verse 2.1.158:

एतस्मिन् एव समये तत्र दक्षिण-देशतः ।
समागतैः साधु-वरैः कथितं तैर्थिकैर् इदम् ॥ १५८ ॥

etasmin eva samaye tatra dakṣiṇa-deśataḥ |
samāgataiḥ sādhu-varaiḥ kathitaṃ tairthikair idam || 158 ||

etasmin–at this; eva–indeed; samaye–time; tatra–there; dakṣiṇadeśataḥ–from a southern country; samāgataiḥ–having come; sādhuvaraiḥ–eminent saints; kathitam–it was said; tairthikaiḥ–by pilgrims; idam–this.

At this time, some saintly Vaiṣṇavas from the south who were touring the holy places came there and spoke to me as follows.

Commentary: Dig-darśinī-ṭīkā with Bhāvānuvāda

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

Śrī Gopa-kumāra says, “In this way, with a heavy heart, I continued to reside there in that kingdom. After some days, many saintly devotees of Śrī Viṣṇu (Vaiṣṇavas) came there on their pilgrimage, having just visited Śrī Puruṣottama-kṣetra.”

The brāhmaṇa might ask, “If the itinerant Vaiṣṇavas were completely devoted to the Supreme Lord Viṣṇu, why did they leave Śrī Puruṣottama-kṣetra?”

Gopa-kumāra says, “They were tairthika, that is, they were wandering pilgrims visiting the different tīrthas, or holy places, to have darśana of the Deities of Śrī Viṣṇu and to see the Vaiṣṇavas.” This indicates they had visited almost all the holy places. Those saintly persons recounted the glories of dāru-brahman, the Supreme Lord Jagannātha who appears in the form of wood. This will be narrated later on.