Brihad Bhagavatamrita (commentary)

by Śrī Śrīmad Bhaktivedānta Nārāyana Gosvāmī Mahārāja | 2005 | 440,179 words | ISBN-13: 9781935428329

The Brihad-bhagavatamrita Verse 2.3.184, English translation, including commentary (Dig-darshini-tika): an important Vaishnava text dealing with the importance of devotional service. The Brihad-bhagavatamrita, although an indepent Sanskrit work, covers the essential teachings of the Shrimad Bhagavatam (Bhagavata-purana). This is verse 2.3.184 contained in Chapter 3—Bhajana (loving service)—of Part two (prathama-khanda).

Sanskrit text, Unicode transliteration, Word-for-word and English translation of verse 2.3.184:

श्रीमन्-नाम प्रभोस् तस्य श्री-मूर्तेर् अप्य् अतिप्रियम् ।
जगद्-धितं सुखोपास्यं स-रसं तत्-समं न हि ॥ १८४ ॥

śrīman-nāma prabhos tasya śrī-mūrter apy atipriyam |
jagad-dhitaṃ sukhopāsyaṃ sa-rasaṃ tat-samaṃ na hi || 184 ||

śrīmat-nāma–the beautiful name; prabhoḥ–of the Lord; tasya–His; śrī-mūrteḥ–than the beautiful form; api–even; ati-priyam–more dear; jagat–to the world; hitam–causing welfare; sukha–easily; upāsyam–worshiped; sa-rasam–filled with sweet mellows; tat–to that; samam–comparable; na–not; hi–indeed.

Bhagavān’s holy name is even dearer to Him than His own divine form because it benefits the entire world, it is easily worshiped, and it is saturated with rasa. Indeed, nothing is comparable to that name.

Commentary: Dig-darśinī-ṭīkā with Bhāvānuvāda

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

“Therefore, we always glorify the nāmasaṅkīrtana of Śrī Bhagavān, considering it to be both sādhya and sādhana, the most excellent goal and the most excellent means to achieve that goal.” To explain this, the Vaikuṇṭha pārṣadas speak this verse beginning with srīman-nāma. They say, “What more can we say about the glories of the holy name? Bhagavān loves His holy name more than His divine form. There is no consideration of qualification or disqualification in uttering the Lord’s name, and so it has been universally described as hitam, or ‘most beneficial.’” Here, the purport of the word srīman, meaning ‘beautiful,’ is that, being endowed with all types of brilliant opulences, the holy name indeed radiates its own glories everywhere and in all circumstances. Therefore, the Lord loves His holy name even more than His divine form (śrī-vigraha).

Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam (11.14.15) states:

न तथा मे प्रियतम आत्म-योनिर् न शङ्करः
न च सङ्कर्षणो न श्रीर् नैवात्मा च यथा भवान्

na tathā me priyatama ātma-yonir na śaṅkaraḥ
na ca saṅkarṣaṇo na śrīr naivātmā ca yathā bhavān

O Uddhava, Brahmā, Śaṅkara, Saṅkarṣaṇa, Lakṣmī, and even My own Self are not as dear to Me as you are.

From this statement, it is understood that Śrī Bhagavān loves His devotee more than He cares for His own self. However, it is not stated anywhere that the devotee is dearer to Him than His holy name (śrī-nāma).

In summary, nāma (the holy name) is even more precious to the Lord than nāmī (the possessor of the name), the Lord’s own divine person. This is the significance of the word śrīmat. Having revealed this, the Vaikuṇṭha associates explain the reason why Bhagavān cherishes His name so much.

They say, “The holy name benefits the whole world without consideration of whether one is qualified or unqualified. Similarly, the name benefits everyone when it is uttered with the tongue or even when it is heard with the ears. Worship of the name is easily accomplished simply by nicely vibrating it on the tip of the tongue.

“These names, being made of sweet syllables, are full of nectar and soft and tender, or sa-rasa (full of rasa). It can also be said that the names are sa-rasa because they are embodiments of transcendence–eternity, knowledge, and bliss (sac-cid-ānanda). Another explanation of their nectarean nature–or sa-rasa–is that śrī-nāma-saṅkīrtana is endowed with many mellows, or rasas. In other words, singing and glorifying the names of the Lord can be performed in śṛṅgārarasa (amorous love) and in all the rasas (here meaning devotional relationships). It can also be performed in bhakti-rasa, the mellow of devotional service, and prema-rasa, the mellow of mature love. In conditions of meeting and separation, because nāmī Bhagavān manifests in śrī-nāma-kīrtana, śrī-nāma is the bridge for the devotee to meet with Kṛṣṇa and the consoling friend of one feeling separation from Him.

“Another meaning of rasa is rāga, or spontaneous attraction to Kṛṣṇa. The holy name is sa-rasa, filled with rasa, because it is filled with rāga. Furthermore, the holy name is filled with rasa because the Lord Himself is permanently present in the kīrtana of His sacred names, which bestow pure love for Him very quickly, without a doubt. Alternatively, since among its servants (all the worshipers), this holy name creates prema for the Lord, a powerful attraction, or anurāga, arises between itself and its servants. Moreover, it also instills affection, or anurāga, in all people.

“The word rasa also means ‘exceptional potency’ (vīrya-viśeṣa). Sarasa indicates that the name of the Lord is extremely powerful. Rasa also means quality, or guṇa. Śrī-nāma is indeed of exceptional quality–sa-rasa–because it has the quality to deliver all wretched people of this world. Another meaning of the word rasa is sukha, meaning ‘happiness.’ Śrī-nāma is sa-rasa because, being sac-cid-ānanda, it is joyful by nature. Rasa also means special sweetness. The holy name is sa-rasa because it is full of the sweetest ambrosia.”

Therefore, in the Skanda Purāṇa, Bhagavān Vedavyāsa states:

मधुर-मधुरम्-एतन् मङ्गलं मङ्गलानां सकल-निगम-वल्ली-सत्-फलं चित्-स्वरूपं
सकृद् अपि परिगीतं श्रद्धया हेलया वा भृगु-वर नर-मात्रं तारयेत् कृष्ण-नाम

madhura-madhuram-etan maṅgalaṃ maṅgalānāṃ sakala-nigama-vallī-sat-phalaṃ cit-svarūpaṃ
sakṛd api parigītaṃ śraddhayā helayā vā bhṛgu-vara nara-mātraṃ tārayet kṛṣṇa-nāma

O best of the Bhṛgu dynasty, kṛṣṇa-nāma is the sweetest of all that is sweet and the most auspicious of all that is auspicious. It is the fully ripened fruit of the wish-fulfilling vine that is the Vedas and is the embodiment of transcendence. If a person utters the holy name only once, with indifference or with faith, he very quickly becomes qualified to receive the personal association of Śrī Bhagavān, even without his making an effort to be delivered from his great distress.

The Vaikuṇṭha associates conclude, “This is proof of the incomparable auspiciousness of śrī-nāma. There is nothing that can equal it.”

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