FolioCorpusŚrīmad-Bhāgavatam

Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 3.24.5

मैत्रेय उवाच देवहूत्यपि संदेशं गौरवेण प्रजापते: । सम्यक् श्रद्धाय पुरुषं कूटस्थमभजद्गुरुम् ॥ ५ ॥
maitreya uvāca
[maitreya uvaacha]
devahūty api sandeśaṁ
[devahooty api sandesham]
gauraveṇa prajāpateḥ
[gauravena prajaapateh]
samyak śraddhāya puruṣaṁ
[samyak shraddhaaya purusham]
kūṭa-stham abhajad gurum
[koota-stham abhajad gurum]
maitreyaḥ uvāca — Maitreya said devahūtī — Devahūti api — also sandeśam — the direction gauraveṇa — with great respect prajāpateḥ — of Kardama samyak — complete śraddhāya — having faith in puruṣam — the Supreme Personality of Godhead kūṭa-stham — situated in everyone’s heart abhajat — worshiped gurum — most worshipable.
Blended reading (Sanskrit + English inline)
maitreya uvāca
maitreyaḥ uvāca
Maitreya said
devahūty api sandeśaṁ
devahūtī
Devahūti
api
also
sandeśam
the direction
gauraveṇa prajāpateḥ
gauraveṇa
with great respect
prajāpateḥ
of Kardama
samyak śraddhāya puruṣaṁ
samyak
complete
śraddhāya
having faith in
puruṣam
the Supreme Personality of Godhead
kūṭa-stham abhajad gurum
kūṭa-stham
situated in everyone’s heart
abhajat
worshiped
gurum
most worshipable.
Śrī Maitreya said: Devahūti was fully faithful and respectful toward the direction of her husband, Kardama, who was one of the Prajāpatis, or generators of human beings in the universe. O great sage, she thus began to worship the master of the universe, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, who is situated in everyone’s heart.

This is the process of spiritual realization; one has to receive instruction from a bona fide spiritual master. Kardama Muni was Devahūti’s husband, but because he instructed her on how to achieve spiritual perfection, he naturally became her spiritual master also. There are many instances wherein the husband becomes the spiritual master. Lord Śiva also is the spiritual master of his consort, Pārvatī. A husband should be so enlightened that he should become the spiritual master of his wife in order to enlighten her in the advancement of Kṛṣṇa consciousness. Generally strī, or woman, is less intelligent than man; therefore, if the husband is intelligent enough, the woman gets a great opportunity for spiritual enlightenment.

Here it is clearly said ( samyak śraddhāya ) that with great faith one should receive knowledge from the spiritual master and with great faith execute the performance of service. Śrīla Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura, in his commentary on Bhagavad-gītā, has especially stressed the instruction of the spiritual master. One should accept the instruction of the spiritual master as one’s life and soul. Whether one is liberated or not liberated, one should execute the instruction of the spiritual master with great faith. It is also stated that the Lord is situated in everyone’s heart. One does not have to seek the Lord outside; He is already there. One simply has to concentrate on one’s worship in good faith, as instructed by the bona fide spiritual master, and one’s efforts will come out successfully. It is also clear that the Supreme Personality of Godhead does not appear as an ordinary child; He appears as He is. As stated in Bhagavad-gītā, He appears by His own internal potency, ātmā-māyā. And how does He appear? He appears when pleased by the worship of a devotee. A devotee may ask the Lord to appear as her son. The Lord is already sitting within the heart, and if He comes out from the body of a devotee it does not mean that the particular woman becomes His mother in the material sense. He is always there, but in order to please His devotee, He appears as her son.

— A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda
Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura Gauḍīya
Translation
Maitreya said: Having complete faith in the instructions of Kardama, Devahuti worshipped the changeless Supreme Lord, her future guru, with veneration. Sandeśam means instruction. The Lord is called guru because as her son, he would become her guru.
The Lord is named here as the actual proprietor of everything we manage. The verse asks us to relax our grip on what was never ours and let Him hold it again. The verse keeps returning to Supreme Personality of Godhead.
Reflection Questions
  • Whom do you actually address when you pray — a concept, or a person?
  • What would change if you treated one possession this week as belonging to the Lord and on loan to you?
📝 My note

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