Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 4.7.27
ऋत्विज ऊचु:
तत्त्वं न ते वयमनञ्जन रुद्रशापात्
कर्मण्यवग्रहधियो भगवन्विदाम: ।
धर्मोपलक्षणमिदं त्रिवृदध्वराख्यं
ज्ञातं यदर्थमधिदैवमदो व्यवस्था: ॥ २७ ॥
ṛtvija ūcuḥ
[ritvija oochuh]
tattvaṁ na te vayam anañjana rudra-śāpāt
[tattvam na te vayam ananjana rudra-shaapaat]
karmaṇy avagraha-dhiyo bhagavan vidāmaḥ
[karmany avagraha-dhiyo bhagavan vidaamah]
dharmopalakṣaṇam idaṁ trivṛd adhvarākhyaṁ
[dharmopalakshanam idam trivrid adhvaraakhyam]
jñātaṁ yad-artham adhidaivam ado vyavasthāḥ
[jnaatam yad-artham adhidaivam ado vyavasthaah]
Word-for-word
ṛtvijaḥ
—
the priests
ūcuḥ
—
began to say
tattvam
—
truth
na
—
not
te
—
of Your Lordship
vayam
—
all of us
anañjana
—
without material contamination
rudra
—
Lord Śiva
śāpāt
—
by his curse
karmaṇi
—
in fruitive activities
avagraha
—
being too much attached
dhiyaḥ
—
of such intelligence
bhagavan
—
O Lord
vidāmaḥ
—
know
dharma
—
religion
upalakṣaṇam
—
symbolized
idam
—
this
tri-vṛt
—
the three departments of knowledge of the Vedas
adhvara
—
sacrifice
ākhyam
—
of the name
jñātam
—
known to us
yat
—
that
artham
—
for the matter of
adhidaivam
—
for worshiping the demigods
adaḥ
—
this
vyavasthāḥ
—
arrangement.
Blended reading (Sanskrit + English inline)
ṛtvija ūcuḥ
ṛtvijaḥ
the priests
ūcuḥ
began to say
tattvaṁ na te vayam anañjana rudra-śāpāt
tattvam
truth
na
not
te
of Your Lordship
vayam
all of us
anañjana
without material contamination
rudra
Lord Śiva
śāpāt
by his curse
karmaṇy avagraha-dhiyo bhagavan vidāmaḥ
karmaṇi
in fruitive activities
avagraha
being too much attached
dhiyaḥ
of such intelligence
bhagavan
O Lord
vidāmaḥ
know
dharmopalakṣaṇam idaṁ trivṛd adhvarākhyaṁ
dharma
religion
upalakṣaṇam
symbolized
idam
this
tri-vṛt
the three departments of knowledge of the Vedas
adhvara
sacrifice
ākhyam
of the name
jñātaṁ yad-artham adhidaivam ado vyavasthāḥ
jñātam
known to us
yat
that
artham
for the matter of
adhidaivam
for worshiping the demigods
adaḥ
this
vyavasthāḥ
arrangement.
The priests addressed the Lord, saying: O Lord, transcendental to material contamination, by the curse offered by Lord Śiva’s men we have become attached to fruitive activities, and thus we are now fallen and therefore do not know anything about You. On the contrary, we are now involved in the injunctions of the three departments of the Vedic knowledge under the plea of executing rituals in the name of yajña. We know that You have made arrangements for distributing the respective shares of the demigods.
Purport
The Vedas are known as traiguṇya-viṣayā vedāḥ ( Bg. 2.45 ). Those who are serious students of the Vedas are very much attached to the ritualistic ceremonies mentioned in the Vedas, and therefore these veda-vādīs cannot understand that the ultimate goal of the Vedas is to understand Lord Kṛṣṇa, or Viṣṇu. Those who have transcended the qualitative Vedic attractions, however, can understand Kṛṣṇa, who is never contaminated by the material qualities. Therefore Lord Viṣṇu is addressed here as anañjana, “free from material contamination.” In Bhagavad-gītā (2.42) the crude Vedic scholars have been deprecated by Kṛṣṇa as follows:
yām imāṁ puṣpitāṁ vācaṁ pravadanty avipaścitaḥ veda-vāda-ratāḥ pārtha nānyad astīti vādinaḥ
“Men of small knowledge are very much attached to the flowery words of the Vedas, and they say that there is nothing more than this.”
— A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda
Gauḍīya Ācāryas
Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura
Gauḍīya
Translation
The priests said: O uncontaminated Lord! Because of the curse of Nandīśvara, we have become absorbed in karma and do not know the truth about you. We know you in the form of sacrifice, called dharma, for attaining artha, dharma and kāma, in which the result is an arrangement for the devatās share.
O Lord beyond the contamination of māyā (anañjna)! By the curse of Nandīśvara we are absorbed in karma, and do not know you. How can Dakṣa know you? They glance at Dakṣa. “What do you know?” We know your form as the sacrifice which yields artha, dharma and kāma (trivṛt), commonly known as dharma. The result of this sacrifice is that thre is an arrangement of shares for the devatās according to their qualification.
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Personal Guidance
The priests confess they got entangled in ritual mechanics and lost sight of the Lord. Even the most sacred profession can become a treadmill if you forget the ultimate aim is loving service.
Reflection Questions
- Which spiritual activity have I turned into an end in itself, losing the actual purpose?
- Where have my 'rituals' (work, family, practice) crowded out the Person they were for?
My note
Source: vedabase.io