Verse 2.1.252

Bengali text, Devanagari and Unicode transliteration of verse 2.1.252:

“সিদ্ধ-বর্ণ-সমাম্নায?” বলে শিষ্য-গণ প্রভু বলে,—“সর্ব-বর্ণে সিদ্ধ নারাযণ” ॥ ২৫২ ॥

“सिद्ध-वर्ण-समाम्नाय?” बले शिष्य-गण प्रभु बले,—“सर्व-वर्णे सिद्ध नारायण” ॥ २५२ ॥

“siddha-varṇa-samāmnāya?” bale śiṣya-gaṇa prabhu bale,—“sarva-varṇe siddha nārāyaṇa” || 252 ||

“siddha-varna-samamnaya?” bale sisya-gana prabhu bale,—“sarva-varne siddha narayana” (252)

English translation:

(252) The students asked, “What is the meaning of siddha-varṇa- samāmnāya?” The Lord replied, “Nārāyaṇa is situated in every letter of the alphabet.”

Commentary: Gauḍīya-bhāṣya by Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura:

The phrase siddha-varṇa-samāmnāya is the first sūtra of Kalāpa grammar. The sequence of reading vowels and consonants is well

established since ancient times. By quoting the first sūtra of Kalāpa grammar, the Lord’s students asked whether the standard method of presenting the alphabet is indeed well established. In reply, the Lord said that from the eternal, pure, complete, eternally liberated, spiritual, and most important enlightened vidvad-rūḍhi every letter of the alphabet certainly refers to Nārāyaṇa. Persons who are on the ascending path study linguistic literature through ajña-rūḍhi, yet the Lord, following the descending process, explained that each letter of the alphabet indicates the Supreme Lord. If a conditioned soul tries to measure each letter of the alphabet through ajña-rūḍhi, then he will achieve only sensual knowledge not related to Nārāyaṇa. But vidvad-rūḍhi confirms that each letter of the alphabet is a direct manifestation of Lord Nārāyaṇa. Ajña-rūḍhi, the conventional meaning of words according to the unenlightened, turns materialistic mental speculators into speakers of nonsense, whereas the self-manifested Personality of Godhead, Lord Nārāyaṇa, manifests Himself in the form of letters to help the living entities chant His glories.