Verse 1.3.44

Sanskrit text, Unicode transliteration, Word-for-word and English translation of verse 1.3.44:

त्यक्त-सर्वाभिमाना ये समस्त-भय-वर्जिताः ।
वैकुण्ठं सच्-चिद्-आनन्दं गुणातीतं पदं गताः ॥ ४४ ॥

tyakta-sarvābhimānā ye samasta-bhaya-varjitāḥ |
vaikuṇṭhaṃ sac-cid-ānandaṃ guṇātītaṃ padaṃ gatāḥ || 44 ||

Having cast aside all pride, they attain their destination of that eternal, cognizant and blissful Śrī Vaikuṇṭha, which is free from all fear and beyond the modes of material nature.

Commentary: Dig-darśinī-ṭīkā with Bhāvānuvāda

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

In the Brahmāṇḍa Purāṇa:

तम् अनन्त-गुनवसम् महत्-तेजो दुरसदम्
अप्रत्यक्सम् निरुपमम् परनन्दम् अतिन्द्रियम्

tam ananta-gunavasam mahat-tejo durasadam
apratyaksam nirupamam paranandam atindriyam

“That Vaikuṇṭha, the abode of limitless qualities, is full of radiant splendor, imperceptible to nondevotees, unparalleled, beyond the mundane senses and divinely blissful.”

And in Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam (2.9.9-10) it is also stated:

तस्मै स्व-लोकं भगवान् सभाजितः सन्दर्शयाम् आस परं न यत्-परम्
व्यपेत-सङ्क्लेश-विमोह-साध्वसं स्व-दृष्टवद्भिर् पुरुषैर् अभिष्टुतम्
प्रवर्तते यत्र रजस् तमस् तयोः सत्त्वञ्च मिश्रं न च काल-विक्रमः
न यत्र माया किम् उतापरे हरेरनुव्रता यत्र सुरासुरार्चिताः

tasmai sva-lokaṃ bhagavān sabhājitaḥ sandarśayām āsa paraṃ na yat-param
vyapeta-saṅkleśa-vimoha-sādhvasaṃ sva-dṛṣṭavadbhir puruṣair abhiṣṭutam
pravartate yatra rajas tamas tayoḥ sattvañca miśraṃ na ca kāla-vikramaḥ
na yatra māyā kim utāpare hareranuvratā yatra surāsurārcitāḥ

“Śrī Nārāyaṇa, pleased by the tapasyā of Brahmā, revealed to him His topmost abode of Vaikuṇṭha. In that Vaikuṇṭha, there is neither suffering nor fear. Those who have achieved self-enlightenment, that is, who are self-realized liberated souls, always glorify that abode of Vaikuṇṭha.”

In this way, expressing that Vaikuṇṭha devotees are more than simply liberated sensualists or carefree souls, Śrī Śiva now explains their glories as more superior than his own self by tyakta (casting aside) and so on. They became successful by obtaining a Vaikuṇṭha position. Here, the word used is pada, not a mayik or ephemeral place but a sac-cid-ānanda realm composed of eternity, cognizance and bliss.

Regarding this transcendental vaikuṇṭha-pada, Śrī Nārada Pañcaratra (Śrī-Brahmā-Nārada-Saṃvāda Jitante-Stotra) explains: “That aprakṛta or spiritual realm called Śrī Vaikuṇṭha is as effulgent as millions of suns, devoid of the three material modes, replete with six luminous characteristics, and completely unattainable to nonbelievers in Śrī Viṣṇu. The nitya-siddha parikaras, or eternal, liberated associates, have the same bodily features with five different ages—full of sac-cid-ānanda. In that aprakṛta Vaikuṇṭha, the assembly halls, palaces, gardens, great lakes, wells, deep ponds and trees are well adorned and served with adoration by an assemblage of demigods.”

In the Tenth Canto (Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam or Bhāgavata Purāṇa 10.28.14, 15) it is said:

इति सञ्चिन्त्य भगवान् महा-कारुणिको हरिः
दर्शयाम् आस लोकं स्वं गोपानां तमसः परम्
सत्यं ज्ञानम् अनन्तं यद् ब्रह्म-ज्योतिः सनातनम्
यद् धि पश्यन्ति मुनयो, गुणापाये समाहिताः

iti sañcintya bhagavān mahā-kāruṇiko hariḥ
darśayām āsa lokaṃ svaṃ gopānāṃ tamasaḥ param
satyaṃ jñānam anantaṃ yad brahma-jyotiḥ sanātanam
yad dhi paśyanti munayo, guṇāpāye samāhitāḥ

“That supremely merciful Bhagavān Śrī Kṛṣṇa revealed to the cowherd boys His own Vakuṇṭhaloka, situated beyond the material energy. That abode is vyapaka, that is, endless and self-effulgent. Equipoised sages detach their minds from external objects to envision Him in samādhi, and by the mercy of Bhagavān see that abode which is an embodiment of truth, knowledge and limitless brahman (satyam, jñānam, anantam).”

In other words, that spiritual abode whose constitutional nature is satya or eternal is explained as the svarūpa of the dhāma in these ślokas by the words yad brahma-jyotiḥ. However, the self-satisfied sages (ātmarāmas), despite being transcendental to the material modes, can only envision that abode of Vaikuṇṭha in their eye of cognizance (jñāna-cakṣu), but can never attain it.