Verse 2.2.157

Sanskrit text, Unicode transliteration, Word-for-word and English translation of verse 2.2.157:

एकदा मुक्ति-मात्राप्तम् एकं तल्-लोक-वासिभिः ।
संश्लाघ्यमानम् आकर्ण्य तान् अपृच्छं तद् अद्भुतम् ॥ १५७ ॥

ekadā mukti-mātrāptam ekaṃ tal-loka-vāsibhiḥ |
saṃślāghyamānam ākarṇya tān apṛcchaṃ tad adbhutam || 157 ||

ekadā–once; muktim–liberation; atra–once; āptam–attained; ekam–one person; tat-loka-vāsibhiḥ–by the residents of that planet; saṃślāghyamānam–being praised; ākarṇya–hearing; tān–them; apṛccham–I inquired; tat–that (liberation); adbhutam–astonishing.

Once, I heard some residents of Satyaloka glorify someone who had attained liberation. Hearing their genuine praise, I was astounded and, out of curiosity, asked, “What is liberation?”

Commentary: Dig-darśinī-ṭīkā with Bhāvānuvāda

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

Now, to explain his reason for leaving Brahmaloka, Śrī Gopa-kumāra speaks this verse beginning with ekadā. He says, “Once, with great devotion, the brahmarṣi residents of Satyaloka were extolling a jīva (living being) from the Earth planet who had attained liberation (mukti). I had never heard such glorification before. Amazed, I inquired, ‘O residents of Brahmaloka! What is mukti? Why you are praising that person so much? Do you also want to attain liberation?’”