Verse 2.2.40

Sanskrit text, Unicode transliteration, Word-for-word and English translation of verse 2.2.40:

पूज्या देवा नॄणां पूज्या देवानाम् अप्य् अमी तु के ।
किं-माहात्म्या महा-तेजो-मयाः कुत्र वसन्ति वा ॥ ४० ॥

pūjyā devā nṝṇāṃ pūjyā devānām apy amī tu ke |
kiṃ-māhātmyā mahā-tejo-mayāḥ kutra vasanti vā || 40 ||

pūjyāḥ–worshipable; devāḥ–the demigods; nṛṇām–by men; pūjyāḥ–to be worshiped; devānām–by the demigods; api–even; amī–they; tu–certainly; ke–who?; kim–what?; māhātmyāḥ–glories; mahā-tejaḥmayāḥ–powerful persons; kutra–where?; vasanti–live; vā–or.

“You are demigods, worshipable by mankind, but who are these great sages whom even you worship? Why are they so glorious? Where do these powerfully effulgent maharṣis live?”

Commentary: Dig-darśinī-ṭīkā with Bhāvānuvāda

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

“What did I ask the demigods?” In explanation, Śrī Gopa-kumāra speaks this verse beginning with pūjyā. “I asked them, ‘O venerable demigods, you are adored by humans. But who are these maharṣis whom even you worship?’” Astonished to see the sages being honored by the worshipable demigods, Gopa-kumāra poses this question. He knows the standards of social convention–that the sons worship the father, and the worshipable father worships the grandfather. Nevertheless, he is still in doubt and thus asks what makes those sages so worthy of honor.

“Because the sages were so effulgent, it occurred to me that they were not native to Svarga, but must have come from higher realms and were thus worshipable by the demigods. Assessing the situation, I asked, ‘O demigods! Where do these great sages reside?’ My intention was to find out where they lived in order to go to their abode and have darśana of the object of their devotion, the Supreme Lord Parameśvara.”