Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 10.69.38
Blended reading (Sanskrit + English inline)
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bhavat-pāda-niṣevayā
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by service to Your feet
Compound: bhavat (Your) + pāda (feet) + niṣevā (service) — instrumental. The exact Gauḍīya thesis: jñāna of Bhagavān's tattva arises not from analysis but from sevā. Bhakti is epistemology — only the served Lord is the seen Lord.
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durdarśāḥ
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impossible to see
From dur (difficult) + √dṛś (to see). Kṛṣṇa's yoga-māyāḥ are durdarśā — even great mystics cannot see them. The verse pivots on the contrast: durdarśā to the māyin, nirbhāta to the niṣevin. Service makes visible what skill cannot.
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māyinām
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of great mystics
Genitive plural of māyin — those who command māyā, accomplished yogins. Kṛṣṇa's potencies are hidden even from them. Gauḍīyas: the māyin sees only mahā-māyā; yoga-māyā is reserved for the bhakta.
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yoga-īśvara ātman
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O Lord of mystic power, O Supreme Soul
Double vocative — yoga-īśvara (Lord of yoga) + ātman (Supreme Self). Nārada names Bhagavān both as the cosmic Yoga-master and as the inmost antaryāmin in one breath: the outer pageant and the inner indweller are the same Person.
According to the ācāryas, this verse indicates that even great mystics like Lord Brahmā and Lord Śiva cannot fully comprehend the mystic power of the Supreme Lord.
"y we realize (vidama for vedama) the yogamaya potencies, present in you (atman nirbhata), Lord of yoga, by serving your lotus feet." "Are they difficult to realize for such omniscient persons as you?" "Even to see those powers is impossible for Siva the best among yogis. What then to speak of understanding them? And what to speak of executing such pastimes."
The Lord himself explains what has happened later. Nārada, having seen all the pastimes filled with great pleasures, experienced great pleasure. But seeing the Lord’s pastimes of worshipping devatās, he was sad. Not revealing this mood out of reservation, he speaks revealing his mind by hints in two verses. I know your acintya-śakti arising from your svarūpa (yoga-māyāḥ). I desire to know why you revealed these things. Though these powers are hard to see for persons having various powers, O soul of the masters of yoga, by serving your feet, these powers have appeared by themselves in my mind. Or, O master of yoga! These powers appear in you (ātmani for ātman), arising from your svarūpa, but I know them by service to your feet.
This yoga-māyā is difficult to understand for persons who have attained samādhi or Brahman (yoginām instead of māyinām). This yoga-māyā manifests (nirbhātāḥ) in yourself (ātman). This indicates that it is eternal. This is because you are the Lord of the cit śakti (yogeśvara), because it is your special śakti. We understand this by constantly serving your feet. The plural indicates all devotees or it indicates respect for himself on understanding the Lord. Or this yoga-māyā cannot be understood by persons practicing yoga (yoginām). Though it manifests in the mind (ātmani) of perfected yogīs (yogeśvara), I pray to know it by service to your feet. Why are you absorbed in household dharma, since you are the supreme Lord? Please tell me the truth by giving your mercy in the form of service.
- Where am I trying to grasp Kṛṣṇa's nature through thinking when serving would reveal more?
- What act of service today might open my eyes?
A senior magician at last sees the master's trick from inside — not because he is more clever, but because he has been serving the master long enough that the curtain has fallen on its own. Nārada knows yoga-māyā now, and he names the cause: bhavat-pāda-niṣevayā, by service at Your feet.
My note
Source: vedabase.io