Verse 2.1.219

Sanskrit text, Unicode transliteration, Word-for-word and English translation of verse 2.1.219:

आज्ञा-मालां प्रातर् आदाय पूजा-विप्रैर् वासे मे समागत्य दत्तम् ।
कण्ठे बद्ध्वा प्रस्थितो वीक्ष्य चक्रं नत्वाथाप्तो माथुरं देशम् एतम् ॥ २१९ ॥

ājñā-mālāṃ prātar ādāya pūjā-viprair vāse me samāgatya dattam |
kaṇṭhe baddhvā prasthito vīkṣya cakraṃ natvāthāpto māthuraṃ deśam etam || 219 ||

ājñā–indicating the order; mālām–a garland; prātaḥ–in the morning; ādāya–bringing; pūjā-vipraiḥ–by the inspired brāhmaṇa who worships the Lord; vāse–at my residence; me–me; samāgatya–coming; dattām–given; kaṇṭhe–around my neck; baddhvā–placing it; prasthitaḥ–having set out; vīkṣya–gazing; cakram–disk; natvā–bowing; atha–then; āptaḥ–came; māthuram–Mathurā; deśam–land; etam–this.

The next morning, Śrī Jagannātha-deva’s pujārī came to my residence and gave me the Lord’s flower garland, which indicated the Lord’s order to go to Mathurā. Wearing that garland around my neck, I took darśana of Sudarśana cakra on top of the Lord’s temple. Prostrating before it, I departed from Śrī Puruṣottama-kṣetra and came to Mathurā.

Commentary: Dig-darśinī-ṭīkā with Bhāvānuvāda

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

The Mathurā brāhmaṇa might object, “Dreams can be false, so why did you leave Puruṣottama-kṣetra and come to Mathurā relying on a questionable order received in a dream?” Śrī Gopa-kumāra replies, “I was given the order to go to Mathurā. Wearing the garland of flowers that symbolized this command, I proceeded towards Mathurā.”

“How did you receive that ‘garland of command’ (ajñā-mālā)?”

“I obtained it from the brāhmaṇa pujārī (priest) who regularly worships Śrī Jagannātha-deva. Śrī Jagannātha-deva instructed that brāhmaṇa, His permanent servitor, and He Himself sent me that garland, to confirm His permission.

“Factually, many brāhmaṇas invent unlimited ways to serve and worship the Deities of Śrī Bhagavān. For this reason, corresponding to those ways of worship, Śrī Jagannātha-deva also manifests Himself in those Deity forms, desirous of instigating pastimes to accept the devotional aspirations and activities from those authorized brāhmaṇas. “One of those brāhmaṇas received the order of Śrī Jagannāthadeva. Acting upon that order, he removed the garland from the Lord’s neck in the morning and came directly to my residence to give that ‘garland of command’ to me. This incident dispelled my doubt that my dream might be illusory. Then, from a distance I took darśana of Sudarśana cakra, which is situated on the top of the temple, and did not return to my residence.”

Alternatively, Śrī Gopa-kumāra says, “Wearing the ajñā-mālā around my neck, I did not go again to the Lord’s temple to see the divine lotus face of Śrī Jagannātha-deva. I departed from Śrī Puruṣottamakṣetra and proceeded gradually, walking the path to Śrī Vṛndāvana until I finally reached there again.”

Thus ends the translation of the bhāvānuvāda of Śrīla Sanātana Gosvāmī’s Dig-darśinī-ṭikā on the Second Canto, Chapter One, of Śrī Bṛhad-bhāgavatāmṛta.