Translation
\nThe wise souls who understand how Your M\u0101y\u0101 deludes all human beings render potent loving service to You, who are the source of liberation from birth and death. How, indeed, can fear of material life affect Your faithful servants? On the other hand, Your furrowing eyebrows \u2014 the triple-rimmed wheel of time \u2014 repeatedly terrify those who refuse to take shelter of You.
\nPurport
\nThe Vedas reveal their most cherished secret \u2014 devotional service to the Personality of Godhead \u2014 only to those who are tired of material illusion, which is based on a false sense of independence from the Lord. The V\u0101jasaney\u012b-sa\u1e41hit\u0101 (32.11) of the White Yajur Veda contains the following mantra:
\npar\u012btya bh\u016bt\u0101ni par\u012btya lok\u0101n
\npar\u012btya sarv\u0101\u1e25 pradi\u015bo di\u015ba\u015b ca
\nupasth\u0101ya prathama-j\u0101m\u1e5btasy\u0101-
\ntman\u0101tm\u0101nam abhisa\u1e41vive\u015ba
\n\u201cAfter passing beyond all the species of life, all the planetary systems and all the limits of space in all directions, one approaches the original Soul of immortality. Then one receives the opportunity to enter permanently into His domain and worship Him with personal service.\u201d
\nThe proponents of various contending materialistic philosophies may consider themselves very wise, but they are in fact all deluded by the Supreme Lord\u2019s M\u0101y\u0101. Vai\u1e63\u1e47avas recognize this pattern of general delusion and submit themselves to the Supreme Lord in the devotional moods of servitude, friendship and so on. Instead of the heat and strife of philosophical quarrel, the pure Vai\u1e63\u1e47avas experience only delight at every moment, because the object of their love is He who brings an end to material entanglement. And the devotees of Lord Vi\u1e63\u1e47u enjoy constant pleasure not only in this life but in future lives. In whatever births they take, they enjoy loving reciprocations with the Lord. Thus the sincere Vai\u1e63\u1e47ava prays:
\nn\u0101tha yoni-sahasre\u1e63u
\nye\u1e63u ye\u1e63u bhram\u0101my aham
\ntatra tatr\u0101cyut\u0101 bhaktir
\nacyut\u0101stu d\u1e5b\u1e0dh\u0101 tvayi
\n\u201cWherever I may wander, O master, among thousands of species of life, in each situation may I have firmly fixed devotion to You, O Acyuta.\u201d (Vi\u1e63\u1e47u Pur\u0101\u1e47a)
\nSome philosophers will question how the Vai\u1e63\u1e47avas can overcome their material entrapment without thorough analytic knowledge of the entities tvam (\u201cyou,\u201d the j\u012bva) and tat (\u201cthat,\u201d the Supreme), and without developing a sufficient hatred of material life. The personified Vedas here answer that there is no chance of material illusion continuing to act on devotees of the Lord because even in the earliest stages of devotional service all fear and attachment are removed by the Lord\u2019s grace.
\nTime is the root cause of all fear in this world. Indeed, with its three divisions of past, present and future it creates terror at the prospect of impending disease, death and hellish suffering \u2014 but only for those who have failed to obtain shelter at the feet of the Supreme Lord. As the Lord Himself says in the R\u0101m\u0101ya\u1e47a (La\u1e45k\u0101-kha\u1e47\u1e0da 18.33):
\nsak\u1e5bd eva prapanno yas
\ntav\u0101sm\u012bti ca y\u0101cate
\nabhaya\u1e41 sarvad\u0101 tasmai
\ndad\u0101my etad vrata\u1e41 mama
\n\u201cTo whomever even once surrenders to Me, pleading \u2018I am Yours,\u2019 I give eternal fearlessness. This is my solemn vow.\u201d Furthermore, in the Bhagavad-g\u012bt\u0101 (7.14) the Lord says:
\ndaiv\u012b hy e\u1e63\u0101 gu\u1e47a-may\u012b
\nmama m\u0101y\u0101 duratyay\u0101
\nm\u0101m eva ye prapadyante
\nm\u0101y\u0101\u1e41 et\u0101\u1e41 taranti te
\n\u201cThis divine energy of Mine consisting of the three modes of material nature, is difficult to overcome. But those who have surrendered unto Me can easily cross beyond it.\u201d
\nVai\u1e63\u1e47avas do not like to waste their time in prolonged and fruitless wrangling over dry philosophic subjects. They would rather worship the Personality of Godhead than quarrel with philosophical adversaries. The Vai\u1e63\u1e47avas\u2019 understanding concurs with the essential message of revealed scripture. These devotees\u2019 conception of the Supreme Absolute Truth as the infinite ocean of personality and loving pastimes in His worshipable forms of K\u1e5b\u1e63\u1e47a, R\u0101ma and other divine manifestations, and their conception of themselves as His eternal servants, amount to the perfect conclusion of Ved\u0101nta philosophy in terms of the entities tat and tvam.
\nThe Personality of Godhead and His emanations, such as the j\u012bva souls, are simultaneously different and nondifferent, just like the sun and its expanding rays. There are more j\u012bvas than anyone can count, and each of them is eternally alive with consciousness, as the \u015brutis confirm: nityo nity\u0101n\u0101\u1e41 cetana\u015b cetan\u0101n\u0101m. (Ka\u1e6dha Upani\u1e63ad 5.13 and \u015avet\u0101\u015bvatara Upani\u1e63ad 6.13) When they are sent forth from the body of Mah\u0101-Vi\u1e63\u1e47u at the beginning of material creation, the j\u012bvas are all equal in the sense that they are all atomic particles of the Lord\u2019s marginal energy. But according to their differing conditions, they divide into four groups: Some are covered by ignorance, which obscures their vision like a cloud. Others become liberated from ignorance through a combination of knowledge and devotion. A third group of souls become endowed with pure devotion, with a slight mixture of desire for speculative knowledge and fruitive activity. Those souls attain purified bodies composed of perfect knowledge and bliss with which they can engage in the Lord\u2019s service. Finally, there are those who are devoid of any connection with ignorance; these are the Lord\u2019s eternal associates.
\nThe marginal position of the j\u012bva soul is described in the N\u0101rada Pa\u00f1car\u0101tra:
\nyat ta\u1e6da-stha\u1e41 tu cid-r\u016bpa\u1e41
\nsva-sa\u1e41vedy\u0101d vinirgatam
\nra\u00f1jita\u1e41 gu\u1e47a-r\u0101ge\u1e47a
\nsa j\u012bva iti kathyate
\n\u201cThe ta\u1e6da-stha potency should be understood as emanating from the Lord\u2019s sa\u1e41vit [knowledge] energy. This emanation, called the j\u012bva, becomes conditioned by the qualities of material nature.\u201d Because the minute j\u012bva lives within the margin between the Lord\u2019s external, illusory potency, M\u0101y\u0101, and His internal, spiritual potency, cit, the j\u012bva is called ta\u1e6da-stha, \u201cmarginal.\u201d When he earns liberation by cultivating devotion to the Lord, however, he comes completely under the shelter of the Lord\u2019s internal potency, and at that time he is no longer tainted by the modes of material nature. Lord K\u1e5b\u1e63\u1e47a confirms this in Bhagavad-g\u012bt\u0101 (14.26):
\nm\u0101\u1e41 ca yo \u2019vyabhic\u0101re\u1e47a
\nbhakti-yogena sevate
\nsa gu\u1e47\u0101n samat\u012btyait\u0101n
\nbrahma-bh\u016by\u0101ya kalpate
\n\u201cOne who engages in full devotional service, unfailing in all circumstances, at once transcends the modes of material nature and thus comes to the level of Brahman.\u201d
\nThe object of the soul\u2019s worship is realized in three aspects: Brahman, Param\u0101tm\u0101 and Bhagav\u0101n. Impersonal Brahman is like the radiant effulgence of the sun; the Supersoul, or Param\u0101tm\u0101, is like the sun globe; and the Personality of Godhead, Bhagav\u0101n, is like the presiding deity within the sun, complemented by his elaborate entourage and paraphernalia. Or, to cite another analogy, travelers approaching a city from a distance cannot at first distinguish its features but rather see something vaguely shining ahead of them. As they come closer, they may discern a few of the taller buildings. Then, when they are sufficiently close, they will see the city as it is \u2014 a bustling metropolis with many citizens, residences, public buildings, highways and parks. In the same way, persons inclined to impersonal meditation may at best gain some realization of the Supreme Lord\u2019s effulgence (Brahman), those who approach closer can learn to see Him as the Lord in the heart (Param\u0101tm\u0101), and those who come very close can know Him in His full personality (Bhagav\u0101n).
\nIn summary, \u015ar\u012bla \u015ar\u012bdhara Sv\u0101m\u012b prays:
\nsa\u1e41s\u0101ra-cakra-krakacair vid\u012br\u1e47am
\nud\u012br\u1e47a-n\u0101n\u0101-bhava-t\u0101pa-taptam
\nkatha\u00f1cid \u0101pannam iha prapanna\u1e41
\ntvam uddhara \u015br\u012b-n\u1e5bhare n\u1e5b-lokam
\n\u201cO \u015ar\u012b N\u1e5bhari, please deliver those human beings who have suffered all kinds of torments and been ripped apart by the sharp edge of sa\u1e41s\u0101ra\u2019s wheel but who have now somehow found You and are surrendering themselves unto You.\u201d<\/p>\n