Verse 2.3.151

Sanskrit text, Unicode transliteration, Word-for-word and English translation of verse 2.3.151:

चेद् ध्यान-वेगात् खलु चित्त-वृत्त्याव् अन्तर्-भवन्तीन्द्रिय-वृत्तयस् ताः ।
सङ्कीर्तन-स्पर्शन-दर्शनाद्या ध्यानं तदा कीर्तनतोऽस्तु वर्यम् ॥ १५१ ॥

ced dhyāna-vegāt khalu citta-vṛttyāv antar-bhavantīndriya-vṛttayas tāḥ |
saṅkīrtana-sparśana-darśanādyā dhyānaṃ tadā kīrtanato'stu varyam || 151 ||

cet–if; dhyāna–of meditation; vegāt–by the force; khalu–indeed; citta–of the mind; vṛttau–within the activities; antaḥ-bhavanti–become contained within; indriya–of the senses; vṛttayaḥ–the activities; tāḥ–they; saṅkīrtana–chanting; sparśana–touching; darśana–seeing; ādyāḥ–beginning with; dhyānam–meditation; tadā–then; kīrtanataḥ–than chanting; astu–is; varyam–better.

If the functions of the senses–saṅkīrtana (glorification), sparśana (touching), darśana (seeing the Deity), and so on–permeate the mind due to the force of dhyāna, then certainly the superiority of meditation over kīrtana can be accepted.

Commentary: Dig-darśinī-ṭīkā with Bhāvānuvāda

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

Having accepted the superiority of dhyāna over saṅkīrtana as per the logic of abhyupagama (an admitted axiom or proposition), the Vaikuṇṭha pārṣadas speak this verse beginning with ced.

They say, “If by the strong momentum of dhyāna, activities such as glorifying (kīrtana), feeling (sparśana), and seeing (darśana) the Lord that are the functions of speech, touch, and sight, naturally manifest in the heart–that is, if in his meditation one begins to experience the chanting, vision, and touch of the Lord–then only can dhyāna be considered superior to kīrtana.”