FolioCorpusŚrīmad-Bhāgavatam

Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 3.22.5

तव सन्दर्शनादेवच्छिन्ना मे सर्वसंशया: । यत्स्वयं भगवान् प्रीत्या धर्ममाह रिरक्षिषो: ॥ ५ ॥
tava sandarśanād eva
[tava sandarshanaad eva]
cchinnā me sarva-saṁśayāḥ
[chchinnaa me sarva-samshayaah]
yat svayaṁ bhagavān prītyā
[yat svayam bhagavaan preetyaa]
dharmam āha rirakṣiṣoḥ
[dharmam aaha rirakshishoh]
tava — your sandarśanāt — by sight eva — only chinnāḥ — resolved me — my sarva-saṁśayāḥ — all doubts yat — inasmuch as svayam — personally bhagavān — Your Lordship prītyā — lovingly dharmam — duty āha — explained rirakṣiṣoḥ — of a king anxious to protect his subjects.
Blended reading (Sanskrit + English inline)
tava sandarśanād eva
tava
your
sandarśanāt
by sight
eva
only
cchinnā me sarva-saṁśayāḥ
chinnāḥ
resolved
me
my
sarva-saṁśayāḥ
all doubts
yat
inasmuch as
yat svayaṁ bhagavān prītyā
svayam
personally
bhagavān
Your Lordship
prītyā
lovingly
dharmam āha rirakṣiṣoḥ
dharmam
duty
āha
explained
rirakṣiṣoḥ
of a king anxious to protect his subjects.
Now I have resolved all my doubts simply by meeting you, for Your Lordship has very kindly and clearly explained the duty of a king who desires to protect his subjects.

Manu described herewith the result of seeing a great saintly person. Lord Caitanya says that one should always try to associate with saintly persons because if one establishes a proper association with a saintly person, even for a moment, one attains all perfection. Somehow or other, if one meets a saintly person and achieves his favor, then the entire mission of one’s human life is fulfilled. In our personal experience we have actual proof of this statement of Manu. Once we had the opportunity to meet Viṣṇupāda Śrī Śrīmad Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Gosvāmī Mahārāja, and on first sight he requested this humble self to preach his message in the Western countries. There was no preparation for this, but somehow or other he desired it, and by his grace we are now engaged in executing his order, which has given us a transcendental occupation and has saved and liberated us from the occupation of material activities. Thus it is actually a fact that if one meets a saintly person completely engaged in transcendental duties and achieves his favor, then one’s life mission becomes complete. What is not possible to achieve in thousands of lives can be achieved in one moment if there is an opportunity to meet a saintly person. It is therefore enjoined in Vedic literature that one should always try to associate with saintly persons and try to disassociate oneself from the common man, because by one word of a saintly person one can be liberated from material entanglement. A saintly person has the power, because of his spiritual advancement, to give immediate liberation to the conditioned soul. Here Manu admits that all his doubts are now over because Kardama has very kindly described the different duties of individual souls.

— A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda
Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura Gauḍīya
Translation
From meeting you, all my doubts have been destroyed. You have affectionately explained the duties of the kṣatriya. I have come to you, my protector. Just by meeting you I have been protected. Rirakṣiṣoḥ means “of the kṣatriya.”
Suffering is treated here as structural, not accidental. Once we stop expecting the material world to cooperate, we can begin actually using it for spiritual progress.
Reflection Questions
  • Where have you been blaming people for what is actually a structural feature of material life?
  • How would you live this week if you stopped expecting the material world to finally cooperate?
📝 My note

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