SB 5.10.20

Devanāgarī

स वै भवाँल्लोकनिरीक्षणार्थ- मव्यक्तलिङ्गो विचरत्यपिस्वित् । योगेश्वराणां गतिमन्धबुद्धि: कथं विचक्षीत गृहानुबन्ध: ॥ २० ॥

Text

sa vai bhavāḻ loka-nirīkṣaṇārtham avyakta-liṅgo vicaraty api svit yogeśvarāṇāṁ gatim andha-buddhiḥ kathaṁ vicakṣīta gṛhānubandhaḥ

Synonyms

saḥ—that Supreme Personality of Godhead or His incarnation Kapiladeva;vai—indeed;bhavān—your good self;loka-nirīkṣaṇa-artham—just to study the characteristics of the people of this world;avyakta-liṅgaḥ—without manifesting your real identity;vicarati—are traveling in this world;apisvit—whether;yoga-īśvarāṇām—of all the advancedyogīs;gatim—the characteristics or actual behavior;andha-buddhiḥ—who are illusioned and have become blind to spiritual knowledge;katham—how;vicakṣīta—may know;gṛha-anubandhaḥ—I who am bound by attachment to family life, or worldly life.

Translation

Is it not a fact that your good self is the direct representative of Kapiladeva, the incarnation of the Supreme Personality of Godhead? To examine people and see who is actually a human being and who is not, you have presented yourself to be a deaf and dumb person. Are you not moving this way upon the surface of the world? I am very attached to family life and worldly activities, and I am blind to spiritual knowledge. Nonetheless, I am now present before you and am seeking enlightenment from you. How can I advance in spiritual life?

Purport

Although Mahārāja Rahūgaṇa was playing the part of a king, he had been informed by Jaḍa Bharata that he was not a king nor was Jaḍa Bharata deaf and dumb. Such designations were simply coverings of the spirit soul. Everyone must come to this knowledge. As confirmed in Bhagavad-gītā (2.13) : dehino ’smin yathā dehe. Everyone is encased within the body. Since the body is never identical with the soul, the bodily activities are simply illusory. In the association of such a sādhu as Jaḍa Bharata, Mahārāja Rahūgaṇa came to the awareness that his activities as a royal authority were simply illusory phenomena. He therefore agreed to receive knowledge from Jaḍa Bharata, and that was the beginning of his perfection. Tad-vijñānārthaṁ sa gurum evābhigacchet. A person like Mahārāja Rahūgaṇa, who was very inquisitive to know the value of life and the spiritual science, must approach a personality like Jaḍa Bharata. Tasmād guruṁ prapadyeta jijñāsuḥ śreya uttamam ( Bhāg. 11.3.21 ). One must approach a guru like Jaḍa Bharata, a representative of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, to inquire about the goal of human life.

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