श्रीरुद्र उवाच
जितं त आत्मविद्वर्य स्वस्तये स्वस्तिरस्तु मे ।
भवताराधसा राद्धं सर्वस्मा आत्मने नमः ॥३३॥

Å›rÄ«-rudra uvÄca
jitaá¹ ta Ätma-vid-varya-
svastaye svastir astu me
bhavatÄrÄdhasÄ rÄddhaá¹
sarvasmÄ Ätmane namaḥ

 Å›rÄ«-rudraḥ uvÄca - Lord Åšiva began to speak; jitam - all glories; te - unto You; Ätma-vit - self-realized; varya - the best; svastaye - unto the auspicious; svastiḥ - auspiciousness; astu - let there be; me - of me; bhavatÄ - by You; ÄrÄdhasÄ - by the all-perfect; rÄddham - worshipable; sarvasmai - the Supreme Soul; Ätmane - unto the Supreme Soul; namaḥ - obeisances.


Text

Lord Åšiva addressed the Supreme Personality of Godhead with the following prayer: O Supreme Personality of Godhead, all glories unto You. You are the most exalted of all self-realized souls. Since You are always auspicious for the self-realized, I wish that You be auspicious for me. You are worshipable by virtue of the all-perfect instructions You give. You are the Supersoul; therefore I offer my obeisances unto You as the supreme living being.

Purport

As soon as a devotee is inspired by the Lord to offer the Lord a prayer, the devotee immediately glorifies the Lord in the beginning by saying, “All glories unto You, my Lord.†The Lord is glorified because He is considered to be the chief of all self-realized souls. As said in the Vedas (Kaá¹­ha Upaniá¹£ad 2.2.13), nityo nityÄnÄá¹ cetanaÅ› cetanÄnÄm: the Supreme Being, the Personality of Godhead, is the chief living being amongst all living beings. There are different kinds of individual living beings — some of them are in this material world, and some are in the spiritual world. Those who are in the spiritual world are known to be completely self-realized because on the spiritual platform the living entity is not forgetful of his service to the Lord. Therefore in the spiritual world all those who are in the devotional service of the Lord are eternally fixed, for they understand the position of the Supreme Being, as well as their individual constitution. Thus amongst self-realized souls, the Lord is known as the perfectly self-realized soul (nityo nityÄnÄá¹ cetanaÅ› cetanÄnÄm). When the individual soul is fixed in his knowledge of the Lord as the Supreme Being, he actually becomes established in an all-auspicious position. Lord Åšiva prays herein that his auspicious position continue eternally by virtue of the Lord’s mercy upon him.

The Supreme Lord is all-perfect, and the Lord instructs that one who worships Him also becomes perfect. As stated in Bhagavad-gÄ«tÄ (15.15): mattaḥ smá¹›tir jñÄnam apohanaá¹ ca. The Lord is situated as the Supersoul in everyone’s heart, but He is so kind to His devotees that He gives them instructions by which they may continue to progress. When they receive instructions from the all-perfect, there is no chance of their being misled. This is also confirmed in Bhagavad-gÄ«tÄ (10.10): dadÄmi buddhi-yogaá¹ taá¹ yena mÄm upayÄnti te. The Lord is always ready to give instructions to the pure devotee so that the devotee can advance further and further in devotional service. Since the Lord gives instructions as sarvÄtmÄ, the Supersoul, Lord Åšiva offers Him respect with the words sarvasmÄ Ätmane namaḥ. The individual soul is called ÄtmÄ, and the Lord is also called ÄtmÄ as well as ParamÄtmÄ. Being situated in everyone’s heart, the Lord is known as the supreme ÄtmÄ. Therefore all obeisances are offered unto Him. In this regard, one may refer to the prayers of KuntÄ« in the First Canto of ÅšrÄ«mad-BhÄgavatam (1.8.20):

tathÄ paramahaá¹sÄnÄá¹
 munÄ«nÄm amalÄtmanÄm
bhakti-yoga-vidhÄnÄrthaá¹
 kathaá¹ paÅ›yema hi striyaḥ

The Lord is always ready to give instructions to the paramahaá¹sas, or the topmost devotees of the Lord, who are completely liberated from all contaminations of the material world. The Lord always gives instructions to such exalted devotees to inform them how they can remain fixed in devotional service. Similarly, it is stated in the ÄtmÄrÄma verse (BhÄg. 1.7.10):

ÄtmÄrÄmÄÅ› ca munayo
 nirgranthÄ apy urukrame
kurvanty ahaitukīṠbhaktim
 ittham-bhÅ«ta-guṇo hariḥ

The word ÄtmÄrÄma refers to those who are not interested in the material world but are simply engaged in spiritual realization. Such self-realized persons are generally considered in two categories — impersonal and personal. However, impersonalists also become devotees when they are attracted by the personal transcendental qualities of the Lord. The conclusion is that Lord Åšiva wanted to remain a fixed devotee of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, VÄsudeva. As explained in the following verses, Lord Åšiva never desires to merge into the existence of the Supreme Lord like the impersonalists. Rather, he thinks that it would be good fortune for him to continue to be fixed in the understanding of the Lord as the Supreme Being. By this understanding, one realizes that all living entities — including Lord Åšiva, Lord BrahmÄ and other demigods — are servants of the Supreme Lord.