Verse 2.3.176

Sanskrit text, Unicode transliteration, Word-for-word and English translation of verse 2.3.176:

तद्-दर्शने ज्ञान-दृशैव जाय-मानेऽपि पश्याम्य् अहम् एष दृग्भ्याम् ।
मनो भवेत् कृष्ण-कृपा-प्रभाव-विज्ञापको हर्ष-विशेष-वृद्ध्यै ॥ ३.१७६ ॥

tad-darśane jñāna-dṛśaiva jāya-māne'pi paśyāmy aham eṣa dṛgbhyām |
mano bhavet kṛṣṇa-kṛpā-prabhāva-vijñāpako harṣa-viśeṣa-vṛddhyai || 3.176 ||

tad-darśane–in seeing Him; jñāna–of knowledge; dṛśā–with eyes; eva–indeed; jāyamāne–in bringing forth; api–also; paśyāmi–I see; aham–I; eṣaḥ–this; dṛgbhyām–with eyes; mānaḥ–the mind; bhavet–may be; kṛṣṇa-kṛpā–of Kṛṣṇa’s mercy; prabhāva–the power; vijñāpakaḥ–it makes known; harṣa–bliss; viśeṣa–special; vṛddhyai–for causing to flourish.

Although Śrī Bhagavān is seen only with eyes of knowledge, sometimes, by the Lord’s potency of mercy, He becomes visible to the external eyes of the living being. Then, by dint of the Lord’s affection, the living being is able to entertain the conception that he has seen Śrī Bhagavān with his eyes. At that time, through the joy that blossoms in his heart, he can perceive the influence of Śrī Kṛṣṇa’s mercy potency right in his own heart.

Commentary: Dig-darśinī-ṭīkā with Bhāvānuvāda

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

The Vaikuṇṭha pārṣadas say, “It is true that with material eyes one can see the form of Bhagavān, who is exalted by an unlimited capability to give mercy, a capability that is beyond empiric speculation. However, some persons, doubting the Lord’s ability to become self-manifest to material eyes, only accept that He can be seen by eyes enlightened with knowledge. In their opinion, even the special happiness of seeing Bhagavān with material eyes is actually experienced in the mind, not elsewhere, because the mind is the seat of the manifestation of pleasure. Without the assistance of the mind, there is no possibility of the material eyes experiencing the happiness of seeing.”

Alternatively, knowing that vision of the Lord according to one’s desire–that is, direct darśana–is virtually impossible, Śrī Bhagavān’s associates, to indicate the nature of such a vision, present a line of thought [previously given in Chapter Two] in this verse beginning with tad-darśane.

They say, “In this case, the conception that ‘I am seeing Śrī Bhagavān with my two eyes’ arises. This conception indicates Kṛṣṇa’s special mercy potency in that it causes the seer to experience, ‘Ah! Even though it is very difficult to see Bhagavān like this, still I am directly seeing Him with my eyes.’ The conception enhances the joy of the seer as he realizes the special mercy of Bhagavān. He understands, ‘He who is beyond the perception of the faculty of all senses is being seen by me directly, with my material eyes.’”