Verse 2.3.41

Sanskrit text, Unicode transliteration, Word-for-word and English translation of verse 2.3.41:

भिन्नाभिन्नैर् महा-सिद्धैः सूक्ष्मैः सूर्यम् इवांशुभिः ।
वृतं भक्तैर् इवालोक्य कदापि प्रीयते मनः ॥ ४१ ॥

bhinnābhinnair mahā-siddhaiḥ sūkṣmaiḥ sūryam ivāṃśubhiḥ |
vṛtaṃ bhaktair ivālokya kadāpi prīyate manaḥ || 41 ||

bhinna–different; abhinnaiḥ–and not different; mahā-siddhaiḥ–by the great perfected souls; sūkṣmaiḥ–subtle; sūryam–the sun; iva–like; aṃśubhiḥ–with its rays; vṛtam–surrounded; bhaktaiḥ–by the devotees; iva–as if; ālokya–seeing; kadā api–sometimes; prīyate–delighted; manaḥ–my heart.

Just as the sun is surrounded on all sides by the minute particles of its rays, similarly Parameśvara was also surrounded in all directions by different exalted, perfected souls appearing to be His devotees. Seeing this, I sometimes felt blissful at heart.

Commentary: Dig-darśinī-ṭīkā with Bhāvānuvāda

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

As previously explained, the address ‘Parameśvara’ indicates the relationship of master (sevya) and servant (sevaka). Therefore, Śrī Gopa-kumāra says, “Highly perfected souls, who were both different and nondifferent from the Supreme Lord, surrounded Him just like servants. I felt elated to see this.”

The Mathurā brāhmaṇa might ask, “How is it that those souls (jīvas) were both different and nondifferent from the Supreme Lord?” Gopa-kumāra says, “Being part and parcel of Parameśvara, the souls are both different and nondifferent from Him. The Supreme Lord is the infinitely great conscious being (vibhu-caitanya), and the living being is an atomic, infinitesimal conscious being (aṇu-caitanya). Thus, although they are nondifferent in that both have the constitutional quality of consciousness, they are different in size–Parameśvara being infinite and the jīvas being atomic–and so they are also different. However, the liberated jīvas here are not seen as different from the Lord, because they are free from the designations of illusion, and by nature, they are the minute portion of the Supreme Lord.”

Gopa-kumāra describes the liberated beings, saying it was ‘like they were all devotees.’ Factually, previously, those liberated souls never exhibited any devotion towards the Supreme Lord. However, because there they completely surrounded the Supreme Lord like a covering, they appeared to be like servants. Thus, the analogy is made that they are ‘like devotees.’

However, there is no useful service for devotees in the abode of liberation. An appropriate comparison is the sun, which is completely surrounded by minute particles of the sunrays. Similarly, that Supreme Lord was surrounded by His followers, the living beings, who are His minute parts and parcels. The nature, or dharma, of these jīvas is simultaneously the same and different from the Lord’s. This concept of the difference and the nondifference is presented in Chapter Two in the discourse on liberation.