Verse 2.2.73

Sanskrit text, Unicode transliteration, Word-for-word and English translation of verse 2.2.73:

यथा यज्ञेश्वरः पूज्यस् तथायं च विशेषतः ।
गृहस्थानाम् इवास्माकं स्व-कृत्य-त्यागतोऽपि च ॥ ७३ ॥

yathā yajñeśvaraḥ pūjyas tathāyaṃ ca viśeṣataḥ |
gṛhasthānām ivāsmākaṃ sva-kṛtya-tyāgato'pi ca || 73 ||

yathā–just like; yajña-īśvaraḥ–the Lord of sacrifices; pūjyaḥ–is worshipable; tathā–similarly; ayam–He; ca–also; viśeṣataḥ–specially; gṛha-sthānām–of householders; iva–like; asmākam–us; sva-kṛtya–our duties; tyāgataḥ–by giving up; api–and; ca–also.

“As Śrī Yajñeśvara is worshipable by everyone, Śrī Sanat-kumāra is also worshipable. He is an incarnation of Śrī Bhagavān and is an exalted Vaiṣṇava. As such, he is to be worshiped, especially by householders like us. We have abandoned even our sacrificial rituals to worship him.”

Commentary: Dig-darśinī-ṭīkā with Bhāvānuvāda

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

Śrī Gopa-kumāra may have wondered, “Why did you stop your worship of Bhagavān to honor that naked boy?”

Here, the maharṣis reply, “Just as Śrī Yajñeśvara is worshipable by everyone, Śrī Sanat-kumāra is also worshipable. Any guest is considered a manifestation of the Lord. However, Śrī Sanat-kumāra is not only our guest, he is also a śaktyāveśa-avatāra, an incarnation of the Lord invested with transcendental potency, and he is an exalted Vaiṣṇava, superior to us in all respects. For these reasons, we gave up our prime duty of worshiping Bhagavān to worship him. Everywhere it is stated that a naiṣṭhika-brahmacārī, or lifelong celibate, is more eminent than a householder. So, it is the duty of householders to serve such guests.”

Actually, the residents of Maharloka, such as Bhṛgu, are never attached to household life. They are brāhmaṇas, dedicated to performing fire sacrifices out of their love for Śrī Bhagavān. Therefore, the word iva, meaning ‘as if,’ has been used in the verse above.