Verse 2.3.38

Sanskrit text, Unicode transliteration, Word-for-word and English translation of verse 2.3.38:

नैतन् निश्चेतुम् ईशेऽयं दृग्भ्यां चित्तेन वेक्ष्यते ।
किं वातिक्रम्य तत् सर्वम् आत्म-भावेन केनचित् ॥ ३८ ॥

naitan niścetum īśe'yaṃ dṛgbhyāṃ cittena vekṣyate |
kiṃ vātikramya tat sarvam ātma-bhāvena kenacit || 38 ||

na–not; etat–this; niścetum–to discern; īśe–I am able; ayam–Him; dṛgbhyām–with the eyes; cittena–with the mind; vā–or; īkṣyate–is seen; kim–whether?; vā–or; atikramya–surpassing; tat-sarvam–all that; ātma-bhāvena–by my own soul; kenacit–somehow.

But was I seeing that Supreme Lord with my eyes or with my mind? I was unable to discern this. Or, surpassing the functions of both external and internal senses, was my very soul beholding Him?

Commentary: Dig-darśinī-ṭīkā with Bhāvānuvāda

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

Śrī Gopa-kumāra says, “Still, was I beholding Parameśvara with my eyes or my mind? I could not decide.” Alternatively, it may be understood that all the functions of consciousness, having become one, were indistinct. Or else it says, “Having transcended the external and internal senses, was I having the Lord’s darśana with some special indescribable consciousness of the soul (ātma-bhāva)?”