Verse 2.21.7

Bengali text, Devanagari and Unicode transliteration of verse 2.21.7:

সেইখানে দেবানন্দ পণ্ডিতের বাস পরম সুশান্ত বিপ্র মোক্ষ-অভিলাষ ॥ ৭ ॥

सेइखाने देवानन्द पण्डितेर वास परम सुशान्त विप्र मोक्ष-अभिलाष ॥ ७ ॥

seikhāne devānanda paṇḍitera vāsa parama suśānta vipra mokṣa-abhilāṣa || 7 ||

seikhane devananda panditera vasa parama susanta vipra moksa-abhilasa (7)

English translation:

(7) At that place was the residence of Devānanda Paṇḍita, a most peaceful brāhmaṇa who desired liberation.

Commentary: Gauḍīya-bhāṣya by Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura:

The phrase mokṣa-abhilāṣa is explained as follows: The desire for imaginary impersonal liberation devoid of service to the lotus feet of Viṣṇu is one of the desires of people who are full of anarthas, or unwanted things. According to worldly perception, liberation means freedom from the threefold material miseries. But distinctions in perverted time, place, and person are not possible without the manifestation of real time, place, and person. In the conception of those

addicted to material enjoyment, service to the Supreme Lord does not appear to be liberation. If through material conceptions one displays indifference to objects that are related to Hari by performing austerity devoid of service to the Supreme Lord and by crossing beyond temporary conceptions of material enjoyment based on the existence of the seer, the object of vision, and the act of seeing, then one attains aversion to the service of the Supreme Lord. The interpretation of liberation by ignorant foolish people, who declare that the state of being devoid of devotion amounts to the desire for liberation, is considered faulty according to the proper understanding of the Lord’s devotees.