Verse 1.8.78

Bengali text, Devanagari and Unicode transliteration of verse 1.8.78:

যে-মতে পুত্রের রূপ করে মিশ্র পান “সশরীরে সাযুজ্য হৈল কিবা তা’ন!” ॥ ৭৮ ॥

ये-मते पुत्रेर रूप करे मिश्र पान “सशरीरे सायुज्य हैल किबा ता’न!” ॥ ७८ ॥

ye-mate putrera rūpa kare miśra pāna “saśarīre sāyujya haila kibā tā’na!” || 78 ||

ye-mate putrera rupa kare misra pana “sasarire sayujya haila kiba ta’na!” (78)

English translation:

(78) Śrī Miśra drank the nectarean beauty of his son’s form in such a way that it appeared he had merged his body with the Lord!

Commentary: Gauḍīya-bhāṣya by Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura:

The words saśarīre sāyujya are explained as follows: When a conditioned soul is freed from the gross and subtle bodies, or designations, he attains the liberation of brahma-sāyujya, or merging with Brahman, or, in other words, he becomes dormant. This is the conclusion of the impersonalists. But Jagannātha Miśra is nondifferent from Vasudeva, the shelter of vātsalya-rasa in the transcendental realm of Goloka, beyond the material creation. He was so absorbed in seeing the beautiful form of Gaura, the Personality of Godhead, as his son that he continually remained merged in an ocean of bliss. Ordinary people did not consider him as Vasudeva, the personification of pure goodness; they considered him a conditioned soul, fit for sāyujya-mukti like themselves. In fact, they considered Jagannātha Miśra had already attained sāyujya-mukti, the state of becoming dormant, in his present gross and subtle bodies. But, according to Caitanya-caritāmṛta (Madhya 6.268), “A pure devotee does not like

even to hear about sāyujya-mukti, which inspires him with fear and hatred. Indeed, the pure devotee would rather go to hell than merge into the effulgence of the Lord.” Also in Caitanya-caritāmṛta (Madhya 9.267): “Pure devotees reject the five kinds of liberation; indeed, for them liberation is very insignificant because they see it as hellish.” In this regard, one should refer to the descriptions of the pure devotional service performed by Ṛṣabhadeva’s son, Bharata, as narrated by Śrī Śukadeva Gosvāmī to Mahārāja Parīkṣit in Śrīmad Bhāgavatam (5.14.44). Descriptions of sāyujya-mukti are found in the Madhva-sampradāya’s philosophy of śuddha-dvaita. Unless there is a reciprocation between the worshipable Supreme Lord and His servants, the mood of worshiper and worshipable cannot exist. Therefore the sāyujya-mukti referred to herein is the attainment of the lotus feet of Viṣṇu; it certainly does not refer to becoming one with the Lord or merging with Brahman.