FolioCorpusBhagavad-gītā

Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 10.85.46

శాధ్యస్మానీశితవ్యేశ నిష్పాపాన్ కురు న: ప్రభో । పుమాన్ యచ్ఛ్రద్ధయాతిష్ఠంశ్చోదనాయా విముచ్యతే ॥ ౪౬ ॥
śādhy asmān īśitavyeśa
[shaadhy asmaan eeshitavyesha]
niṣpāpān kuru naḥ prabho
[nishpaapaan kuru nah prabho]
pumān yac chraddhayātiṣṭhaṁś
[pumaan yach chraddhayaatishthamsh]
codanāyā vimucyate
[chodanaayaa vimuchyate]
śādhi — please order asmān — us īśitavya — of those who are subject to being controlled īśa — O controller niṣpāpān — sinless kuru — please make naḥ — us prabho — O master pumān — a person yat — which śraddhayā — with faith ātiṣṭhan — executing codanāyāḥ — of scriptural regulation vimucyate — becomes free .
Blended reading (Sanskrit + English inline)
śādhy asmān īśitavyeśa
śādhi
please order
asmān
us
īśitavya
of those who are subject to being controlled
niṣpāpān kuru naḥ prabho
īśa
O controller
niṣpāpān
sinless
kuru
please make
naḥ
us
prabho
O master
pumān yac chraddhayātiṣṭhaṁś
pumān
a person
yat
which
śraddhayā
with faith
ātiṣṭhan
executing
codanāyā vimucyate
codanāyāḥ
of scriptural regulation
vimucyate
becomes free .
  • śādhi — please instruct, command
    Imperative of √śās ('to rule, instruct'). The same root as śāstra. Bali asks Bhagavān to be his śāstra in person. The Gauḍīya principle: the order of the Lord/guru is higher than abstract scriptural commands.
  • niṣpāpān — free from sin
    Compound: nir + pāpa. Bali asks not for material favors but for purification. The result of executing Bhagavān's order is automatic niṣpāpatā — sinlessness is a side-effect of obedience.
  • śraddhayā — with faith
    Instrumental of śraddhā. The single ingredient that makes obedience real. BG 4.39: śraddhā-vāl labhate jñānam. Without śraddhā, even perfect ritual is empty; with śraddhā, the order itself becomes mokṣa-dāyi.
  • codanāyāḥ vimucyate — becomes free from (the binding force of) Vedic injunction
    Ablative + passive: codanā (Vedic command) + vi + √muc. The remarkable claim: faithful service to Bhagavān's order releases one from the obligatory force of ritual injunctions. The Gauḍīya doctrine that bhakti is sva-tantra — independent of karma-kāṇḍa.
O Lord of all subordinate creatures, please tell us what to do and thus free us of all sin. One who faithfully executes Your command, O master, is no longer obliged to follow the ordinary Vedic rites.

The ācāryas explain Bali’s thoughts as follows. Reflecting on the possibility that his request for immediate deliverance may have been too bold, Bali Mahārāja considers that first he will need to become sufficiently purified. In any case, he thinks, Lord Kṛṣṇa and Lord Balarāma must have come to him for some specific purpose; if he can receive the Lords’ order and carry it out, that will be his best opportunity for purification. Indeed, as Bali states, a devotee acting under the Personality of Godhead’s instruction need no longer follow the sacrificial injunctions and prohibitions of the Vedas.

— A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda
Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura Gauḍīya
Translation
O Lord of all subordinate creatures, please tell us what to do and thus free us of all sin. One who faithfully executes Your command, O master, is no longer obliged to follow the ordinary Vedic rites.
Commentary

"Now please inform me of the purpose of your appearing like this before me. Please give your order, O lord of those who are controlled, O master!" "But what qualification do you have to follow my instruction?" "Make me sinless: though I am incapable of doing so myself, by hearing that order I will become purified. Give that order which will free me from all the injunctions and prohibitions of scripture (codana), so that I am not merely a slave to the rules."

Jīva Gosvāmī Gauḍīya
Commentary

If you do not give this mercy plentifully to me, devoid of good fortune, then please tell me your purpose in coming. By this I can become successful. Please instruct me a little. The Lord is qualified for this. Under you exist Brahmā and other leaders (īśa) who need to be instructed (īśitavya)! You should not think that we are suitable for your instructions. Make us free of obstacles to bhakti (niṣpāpān). If you consent to instruct us, with the destruction of obstacles, our qualification will be accomplished. He gives proof. A person who faithfully follows the ordinary, traditional injunctions of the Vedas, what to speak of your direct instructions, is freed from sin.

Related values
Sthitaprajna (Steady Wisdom)Vairagya (Detachment / Dispassion)Discriminative WisdomAbhaya (Fearlessness)Seva (Service / Selfless Action)Saurya (Heroism / Bravery)Samata (Equanimity / Even-mindedness)Ishvara Pranidhana (Surrender to God)
Related verses

A soldier asks the general: 'Just tell me what to do — no more guessing.' Bali offers the simplest and hardest of all prayers: command me. He surrenders the very capacity to choose. With that, even Vedic rites are subsumed in śraddhā.

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