Verse 2.3.104-106

Sanskrit text, Unicode transliteration, Word-for-word and English translation of verse 2.3.104-106:

निष्कामेषु विशुद्धेषु स्व-धर्मेषु हि यः पुमान् ।
परां निष्ठां गतस् तस्मिन् या कृपा श्री-हरेर् भवेत् ॥ १०४ ॥
तस्याः शत-गुणा चेत् स्याद् ब्रह्मत्वं लभते तदा ।
तस्याः शत-गुणायां च सत्यां मद्-भावं र्च्छति ॥ १०५ ॥
श्रीमद्-भगवतस् तस्य मयि यावान् अनुग्रहः ।
तस्माच् छत-गुणोत्तने जाते वैकुण्ठम् एति तम् ॥ १०६ ॥

niṣkāmeṣu viśuddheṣu sva-dharmeṣu hi yaḥ pumān |
parāṃ niṣṭhāṃ gatas tasmin yā kṛpā śrī-harer bhavet || 104 ||
tasyāḥ śata-guṇā cet syād brahmatvaṃ labhate tadā |
tasyāḥ śata-guṇāyāṃ ca satyāṃ mad-bhāvaṃ rcchati || 105 ||
śrīmad-bhagavatas tasya mayi yāvān anugrahaḥ |
tasmāc chata-guṇottane jāte vaikuṇṭham eti tam || 106 ||

niṣkāmeṣu–desireless; viśuddheṣu–pure; sva-dharmeṣu–in one’s own duties of varṇāśrama; hi–indeed; yaḥ–who; pumān–a person; parām–great; niṣṭhām–faith; gataḥ–gone; tasmin–to him; yā–which; kṛpā–mercy; śrī-hareḥ–of Lord Hari; bhavet–is; tasyāḥ–of that; śata-guṇā–multiplied one hundred times; cet–if; syāt–it may be; brahmatvam–the post of Brahmā; labhate–attains; tadā–then; tasyāḥ–of that; śata-guṇāyām–multiplied one hundred times; ca–and; satyām–it may be; mat-bhāvam–my nature; ṛcchati–he attains; śrīmad-bhagavataḥ–of the Lord; tasya–of Him; mayi–in me; yāvān–so much; anugrahaḥ–mercy; tasmāt–from that; śata-guṇauttāne–multiplied one hundred times; jāte–received; vaikuṇṭham–to Vaikuṇṭha; eti–goes; tam–to that.

Those pure-hearted persons with no material desire, and who with great conviction adhere to varṇāśrama-dharma, achieve Bhagavān’s mercy. When this mercy is multiplied a hundred times, one attains the position of Brahmā. When one receives a hundred times more mercy than that, he obtains my position, or Śiva-pada. And when one receives mercy that is again a hundred times greater, only then can he proceed to the abode of Vaikuṇṭha.

Commentary: Dig-darśinī-ṭīkā with Bhāvānuvāda

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

In three verses, beginning here with niṣkāmeṣu, Śrī Mahādeva explains why the abode of Vaikuṇṭha is so rarely achieved. He says, “The word sva-dharmeṣu, meaning ‘one’s own religious duties,’ indicates that one who achieves the position of Brahmā has been blessed by Śrī Hari with a hundred times more mercy than is received by one executing varṇāśrama-dharma, the Vedic socioreligious system, with full faith. When the Lord’s favor towards that person increases a hundredfold, he attains my position, or śivatva.”

In Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam (4.24.29), Śrī Śiva tells the Pracetās:

स्व-धर्म-निष्ठः शत-जन्मभिः पुमान् विरिञ्चताम् एति ततः परं हि माम्
अव्याकृतं भागवतो’थ वैष्णवं पदं यथाहं विबुधाः कलात्यये

sva-dharma-niṣṭhaḥ śata-janmabhiḥ pumān viriñcatām eti tataḥ paraṃ hi mām
avyākṛtaṃ bhāgavato’tha vaiṣṇavaṃ padaṃ yathāhaṃ vibudhāḥ kalātyaye

By resolutely executing one’s prescribed duties (sva-dharma) for a hundred lifetimes, one achieves the post of Brahmā. Only after that can one proceed to attain my position. However, those devoted to Śrī Bhagavān immediately attain the abode of Vaikuṇṭha after abandoning their mortal forms.

The purport is this: “Just as I maintain others as the ruling demigod Rudra, similarly Brahmā and other demigods also maintain the living beings. When our long reigns finally come to an end, our subtle bodies will be destroyed and we will attain the abode of Vaikuṇṭha, having received one hundred times more of Bhagavān’s mercy.”

In this regard, the Mudgala-upākhyāna of Itihāsa-samuccaya clearly states:

ब्रह्मणः सदनाद् ऊर्ध्वं तद् विष्णोः परमं पदम् शुद्धं सनातनं ज्योतिः पर-ब्रह्मेति यद् विदुः
निर्ममा निरहङ्कारा निर्द्वन्द्वा ये जितेन्द्रियाः ध्यान-योग-पराश् चैव तत्र गच्छन्ति साधवः
ये’र्चयन्ति हरिं विष्णुं कृष्णं जिष्णुं सनातनम् नारायणम् अजं कृष्णं विष्वक्सेनं चतुर्-भुजम्
ध्यानन्ति पुरुषं दिव्यम् अच्युतं च स्मरन्ति ये लभन्ते ते’च्युतं स्थानं रुतिर् एषा सनातनी

brahmaṇaḥ sadanād ūrdhvaṃ tad viṣṇoḥ paramaṃ padam śuddhaṃ sanātanaṃ jyotiḥ para-brahmeti yad viduḥ
nirmamā nirahaṅkārā nirdvandvā ye jitendriyāḥ dhyāna-yoga-parāś caiva tatra gacchanti sādhavaḥ
ye’rcayanti hariṃ viṣṇuṃ kṛṣṇaṃ jiṣṇuṃ sanātanam nārāyaṇam ajaṃ kṛṣṇaṃ viṣvaksenaṃ catur-bhujam
dhyānanti puruṣaṃ divyam acyutaṃ ca smaranti ye labhante te’cyutaṃ sthānaṃ rutir eṣā sanātanī

Above the realm of impersonal Brahman (brahma-sadana) lies the topmost realm, the abode of Viṣṇu known as Parabrahman, which is a pure, eternal abode of light far beyond the illusory world of Māyā. Only saints who harbor no false ego or attachment for their body or possessions, who are unaffected by the dualities of cold and heat, sorrow and joy, who have conquered their senses, who are immersed in dhyāna-yoga, or deep meditation, and especially those who forever worship, remember, and meditate on the infallible Supreme Person (Acyuta-puruṣa) in His divine, four-armed forms of Hari, Viṣṇu, Kṛṣṇa, Sanātana, Nārāyaṇa, Aja, and Viṣvaksena–only they can obtain that infallible realm, the topmost abode of Viṣṇu. This is the opinion of the revealed scriptures, the sanātanī-śrutis.

Here, the term brahma-sadana, meaning ‘the dwelling place of Brahman,’ refers to mukti-pada, the realm of liberation, because only in the state of sāyujya-mukti (when one’s existence is merged in the Absolute) does one experience Brahman.

Thus the residents of Vaikuṇṭha are established as being far more glorious than Śrī Maheśa (Lord Śiva) himself. Although these are Śrī Mahādeva’s exact words, they must be understood as an expression of his humility because he is a bhakta-avatāra, a devotee incarnation of the Lord. Factually, being an incarnation of Śrī Bhagavān, he is worshipable by even the Lord’s personal associates. Later, the words of the Lord’s associates themselves will prove this.

All the incarnations of Bhagavān should be regarded in this manner. Any hierarchy seen among Them depends only on the varying manifestations of their divinity, or bhagavattā, but in fact, there is no relative superiority. Later, Śrī Nārada will elaborate in detail on these topics, but for now, we continue with the present subject matter.