स्वपादपल्लवं राम आत्मज्योतिरगात् ततः ॥१९॥
smaratÄá¹ há¹›di vinyasya
viddhaá¹ daṇá¸aka-kaṇá¹akaiḥ
sva-pÄda-pallavaá¹ rÄma
Ätma-jyotir agÄt tataḥ
smaratÄm - of persons who always think of Him; há¹›di - in the core of the heart; vinyasya - placing; viddham - pierced; daṇá¸aka-kaṇá¹akaiḥ - by thorns in the forest of Daṇá¸akÄraṇya (while Lord RÄmacandra was living there); sva-pÄda-pallavam - the petals of Mis lotus feet; rÄmaḥ - Lord RÄmacandra; Ätma-jyotiḥ - the rays of His bodily luster, known as the brahmajyoti; agÄt - entered; tataḥ - beyond the brahmajyoti, or in His own Vaikuṇá¹ha planet.
After completing the sacrifice, Lord RÄmacandra, whose lotus feet were sometimes pierced by thorns when He lived in Daṇá¸akÄraṇya, placed those lotus feet in the hearts of those who always think of Him. Then He entered His own abode, the Vaikuṇá¹ha planet beyond the brahmajyoti.
The lotus feet of the Lord are always a subject matter for meditation for devotees. Sometimes when Lord RÄmacandra wandered in the forest of Daṇá¸akÄraṇya, thorns pricked His lotus feet. The devotees, upon thinking of this, would faint. The Lord does not feel pain or pleasure from any action or reaction of this material world, but the devotees cannot tolerate even the pricking of the Lord’s lotus feet by a thorn. This was the attitude of the gopÄ«s when they thought of Kṛṣṇa wandering in the forest, with pebbles and grains of sand pricking His lotus feet. This tribulation in the heart of a devotee cannot be understood by karmÄ«s, jñÄnÄ«s or yogÄ«s. The devotees, who could not tolerate even thinking of the Lord’s lotus feet being pricked by a thorn, were again put into tribulation by thinking of the Lord’s disappearance, for the Lord had to return to His abode after finishing His pastimes in this material world.
The word Ätma-jyotiḥ is significant. The brahmajyoti, which is greatly appreciated by jñÄnÄ«s, or monistic philosophers who desire to enter it for liberation, is nothing but the rays of the Lord’s body.
yasya prabhÄ prabhavato jagad-aṇá¸a-koá¹i-
koá¹iá¹£v aÅ›eá¹£a-vasudhÄdi-vibhÅ«ti-bhinnam
tad brahma niá¹£kalam anantam aÅ›eá¹£a-bhÅ«taá¹
govindam Ädi-puruá¹£aá¹ tam ahaá¹ bhajÄmi
“I worship Govinda, the primeval Lord, who is endowed with great power. The glowing effulgence of His transcendental form is the impersonal Brahman, which is absolute, complete and unlimited and which displays the varieties of countless planets, with their different opulences, in millions and millions of universes.†(Brahma-samhitÄ 5.40) The brahmajyoti is the beginning of the spiritual world, and beyond the brahmajyoti are the Vaikuṇá¹ha planets. In other words, the brahmajyoti stays outside the Vaikuṇá¹ha planets, just as the sunshine stays outside the sun. To enter the sun planet, one must go through the sunshine. Similarly, when the Lord or His devotees enter the Vaikuṇá¹ha planets, they go through the brahmajyoti. The jñÄnÄ«s, or monistic philosophers, because of their impersonal conception of the Lord, cannot enter the Vaikuṇá¹ha planets, but they also cannot stay eternally in the brahmajyoti. Thus after some time they fall again to this material world. Ä€ruhya ká¹›cchreṇa paraá¹ padaá¹ tataḥ patanty adho ’nÄdá¹›ta-yuá¹£mad-aá¹…ghrayaḥ (BhÄg. 10.2.32). The Vaikuṇá¹ha planets are covered by the brahmajyoti, and therefore one cannot properly understand what those Vaikuṇá¹ha planets are unless one is a pure devotee.
