Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 10.48.31
Blended reading (Sanskrit + English inline)
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darśanāt eva
—
by the mere sight
Phrase: darśana (sight) + eva (only, alone). The eva is doctrinally heavy — the sight alone is enough. Gauḍīyas read this as the warrant for sādhu-darśana practice: showing up where Vaiṣṇavas gather is itself the sādhana, no further effort required.
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uru-kālena
—
after a long time
Compound: uru (broad, great) + kāla (time). Tīrthas and stone deities work slowly — the verse does not deny their power but ranks it. The sādhu's instantaneity is the comparison's whole point.
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ap-mayāni tīrthāni
—
holy places made of water
Compound: ap (water) + maya (consisting of). The Ganges, the Yamunā, the seven sacred rivers — all are ap-maya. They are real, but they are slow. The sādhu is faster because he is Kṛṣṇa's living medium.
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mṛt-śilā-mayāḥ
—
made of earth and stone
Compound: mṛt (clay) + śilā (stone) + maya (consisting of). The verse applies this to devāḥ — deities made of earth and stone. Even the consecrated arcā-mūrti operates uru-kālena for most worshipers. The sādhu, by contrast, transmits because he is conscious; the response is immediate.
"Are not the holy waters worthy of worship?" Shaking my head I say "No, though certainly the holy waters and the devas purify, that is very different from the purification through the devotees. The holy waters give purification by prolonged service, but the devotees give purification just by seeing them."
To serve devotees directly is not the same as serving ordinary devatās directly though even that is rare. Serving deity forms of the devatās is even less valuable than serving them directly. And serving ordinary tīrthas is similar. The deity forms of the devatās and the deities of the tīrthas purify a person of impurities of the heart only after a long time. Use of the masculine (te) instead of neuter form (tāni) is poetic license. The first moment, not even the second moment, of seeing devotees purifies one immediately.
“Should the devatās not be worshipped?” The meaning is this. The deity forms made of stone they are worshippable, what then to speak of the shining forms made with excellence. But in truth the devotees should be served more because the holy places purify the heart of sinful contaminations only after serving a long time. To serve devotees directly is not the same as serving ordinary devatās directly though even that is rare. Serving deity forms of the devatās is even less valuable than serving them directly. And serving ordinary tīrthas is similar. The deity forms of the devatās and the deities of the tīrthas purify a person of impurities of the heart only after a long time. Use of the masculine (te) instead of neuter form (tāni) is poetic license. The first moment, not even the second moment, of seeing devotees purifies one immediately.
- Where do you prioritize pilgrimage to a place over time with a living saint?
- What darśana could you arrange this month that would purify faster than any river?
A holy river purifies after long immersion; a stone deity is reached by lifetimes of pilgrimage. But the saint purifies darśanāt eva — by the mere sight. The eye is the shortest pilgrimage; the sādhu is the closest tīrtha.
When the boy who would become Nārada Muni served the wandering ascetics during the rainy season, he simply ate their remnants and listened to their kṛṣṇa-kathā. In his next birth, he became the immortal devarṣi.
Gauḍīyas cite this autobiography as the prooftext for Kṛṣṇa's verse here: the boy did not bathe in a holy river or worship a deity — he merely saw and served sādhus, and that darśana made him eternal.
My note
Source: vedabase.io