Verse 2.3.66

Sanskrit text, Unicode transliteration, Word-for-word and English translation of verse 2.3.66:

भगवन्तं सहस्रास्यं शेष-मूर्तिं निज-प्रियम् ।
नित्यम् अर्चयति प्रेम्णा दासवज् जगद्-ईश्वरः ॥ ६६ ॥

bhagavantaṃ sahasrāsyaṃ śeṣa-mūrtiṃ nija-priyam |
nityam arcayati premṇā dāsavaj jagad-īśvaraḥ || 66 ||

bhagavantam–the Lord; sahasra-āsyam–who has a thousand heads; śeṣa–of Śeṣa; mūrtim–form; nija-priyam–his own beloved; nityam–eternally; arcayati–worships; premṇā–with love; dāsa-vat–like a servant; jagad-īśvaraḥ–Śrī Śiva, lord of the world.

Although Śrī Śiva is the lord of the world, like a servant, he always lovingly worships the thousand-hooded Śeṣa, his beloved form of Bhagavān.

Commentary: Dig-darśinī-ṭīkā with Bhāvānuvāda

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

Śrī Gopa-kumāra says, “Although Śrī Śiva is the lord of the universe, he always affectionately worships the Śeṣa manifestation of Bhagavān, as a servant. The only reason for this worship is that he loves Bhagavān Śeṣa. As a līlā, or pastime, the worshiped (upāsya–Śrī Śeṣa) and the worshiper (upāsaka–Śrī Śiva) are both predominating Deities of the mode of ignorance. Because of that, Śrī Śiva eternally worships his beloved Bhagavān Śrī Śeṣa with love.”

In the account of Ilāvṛta-varṣa, Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam (5.17.16) describes Śaṅkara as a worshiper:

भवानी-नाथैः स्त्री-गणार्बुद-सहस्रैर् अवरुध्यमानो भगवतश् चतुर्-मूर्तेर्
महा-पुरुषस्य तुरीयां तामसीं मूर्तिं प्रकृतिम् आत्मनः सङ्कर्षण-संज्ञाम्
आत्म-समाधि-रूपेण सन्निधाप्यैतद् अभिगृणन् भव उपधावति

bhavānī-nāthaiḥ strī-gaṇārbuda-sahasrair avarudhyamāno bhagavataś catur-mūrter
mahā-puruṣasya turīyāṃ tāmasīṃ mūrtiṃ prakṛtim ātmanaḥ saṅkarṣaṇa-saṃjñām
ātma-samādhi-rūpeṇa sannidhāpyaitad abhigṛṇan bhava upadhāvati

In this varṣa (tract of land), Bhagavān Śaṅkara is always served by Pārvatī and her millions of maidservants. The Supreme Lord has four manifestations: Vāsudeva, Pradyumna, Aniruddha, and Saṅkarṣaṇa. The fourth one, Saṅkarṣaṇa, is the direct cause of Śrī Śiva’s existence and predominates over the mode of ignorance, or tamas. In the yoga of ātma-samādhi, the mystical practice of resolute meditation on the Supersoul, Śaṅkara meditates on Saṅkarṣaṇa’s form in his heart and always worships Him with prayers and glorifications.

This Śeṣa Saṅkarṣaṇa, who is worshiped by Śrī Śiva, is the presiding Deity of the mode of ignorance, or tama-guṇa, and, at the time of the cosmic annihilation, He sets this mode into motion. Factually, His completely pure and transcendental form is turīya, meaning it is of the fourth dimension, which is beyond the three modes of material nature. Śeṣa Saṅkarṣaṇa has special qualities and characteristics in relation to Saṅkarṣaṇa who is the presiding Deity of the layer of false ego around the material universe. For this reason, the term sahasra-āsyam (thousand-hooded) is being used in the original verse. Reference to Śeṣa is also found in the Śiva-stuti, the prayers of Śrī Śiva [Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 5.17.21]. Śeṣa Saṅkarṣaṇa generally has four arms like Śrī Saṅkarṣaṇa, Śrī Pradyumna, Śrī Aniruddha, etc. of the quadruple expansion.

In this way, the exultation and superiority of Śivaloka has been revealed.