FolioCorpusBhagavad-gītā

Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 4.30.3

మైత్రేయ ఉవాచ ప్రచేతసోఽన్తరుదధౌ పితురాదేశకారిణ: । జపయజ్ఞేన తపసా పురఞ్జనమతోషయన్ ॥ ౩ ॥
maitreya uvāca
[maitreya uvaacha]
pracetaso ’ntar udadhau
[prachetaso ’ntar udadhau]
pitur ādeśa-kāriṇaḥ
[pitur aadesha-kaarinah]
japa-yajṣena tapasā
[japa-yajshena tapasaa]
puraṣjanam atoṣayan
[purashjanam atoshayan]
maitreyaḥ uvāca — Maitreya said pracetasaḥ — the Pracetās antaḥ — within udadhau — the sea pituḥ — of their father ādeśa-kāriṇaḥ — the order carriers japa-yajṣena — by chanting mantras tapasā — under severe austerities puram-janam — the Supreme Personality of Godhead atoṣayan — satisfied.
Blended reading (Sanskrit + English inline)
maitreya uvāca
maitreyaḥ uvāca
Maitreya said
pracetaso ’ntar udadhau
pracetasaḥ
the Pracetās
pitur ādeśa-kāriṇaḥ
japa-yajṣena tapasā
puraṣjanam atoṣayan
antaḥ
within
udadhau
the sea
pituḥ
of their father
ādeśa-kāriṇaḥ
the order carriers
japa-yajṣena
by chanting mantras
tapasā
under severe austerities
puram-janam
the Supreme Personality of Godhead
atoṣayan
satisfied.
The great sage Maitreya said: The sons of King Prācīnabarhi, known as the Pracetās, underwent severe austerities within the seawater to carry out the order of their father. By chanting and repeating the mantras given by Lord Śiva, they were able to satisfy Lord Viṣṇu, the Supreme Personality of Godhead.

One can offer prayers to the Supreme Personality of Godhead directly, but if one repeats the prayers offered by great devotees like Lord Śiva and Lord Brahmā, or if one follows in the footsteps of great personalities, one can please the Supreme Personality of Godhead very easily. For instance, we sometimes chant this mantra of Brahma-saṁhitā (5.29) :

cintāmaṇi-prakara-sadmasu kalpa-vṛkṣa- lakṣāvṛteṣu surabhīr abhipālayantam lakṣmī-sahasra-śata-sambhrama-sevyamānaṁ govindam ādi-puruṣaṁ tam ahaṁ bhajāmi

“I worship Govinda, the primeval Lord, the first progenitor, who is tending the cows, yielding all desires, in abodes built with spiritual gems and surrounded by millions of purpose trees. He is always served with great reverence and affection by hundreds of thousands of lakṣmīs, or gopīs. ” Because this prayer was offered by Lord Brahmā, we follow him by reciting this prayer. That is the easiest way to satisfy the Supreme Personality of Godhead. The pure devotee never attempts to reach the Supreme Lord directly. The most important way to worship the Lord is to go through the disciplic succession of devotees. The prayers offered by Lord Śiva to the Supreme Personality of Godhead were thus repeated by the Pracetās, who were thus very successful in pleasing the Supreme Lord.

Here the Supreme Personality of Godhead is described as puraṣjana. According to Madhvācārya, the living entity is called puraṣjana because he has become an inhabitant of this material world, and under the influence of the three modes of material nature, he is forced to live within it. The Supreme Personality of Godhead creates this material world ( pura ), and He also enters within it. Aṇḍāntara-stha-paramāṇu-cayāntara-stham: the Lord enters within the heart of the living entity and within the atom. Therefore both the living entity and the Lord are called puraṣjana. One puraṣjana, the living entity, is subordinate to the supreme puraṣjana; therefore the duty of the subordinate puraṣjana is to satisfy the supreme puraṣjana. That is devotional service. Lord Rudra, or Lord Śiva, is the original ācārya of the Vaiṣṇava sampradāya called the Rudra sampradāya. Rudra-gītena indicates that under the disciplic succession of Lord Rudra, the Pracetās achieved spiritual success.

— A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda
Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura Gauḍīya
Translation
Maitreya said: Following the instructions of their father within the ocean, the Pracetās satisfied the Supreme Lord by chanting Śiva’s prayer and by austerity. They satisfied the Lord (puraṣjanam) by chanting Śiva’s prayer (japa-yajṣena).
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