tan niÅ›amyÄtha munayo
vismitÄ mukta-samÅ›ayÄḥ
bhÅ«yÄá¹saá¹ Å›raddadhur viṣṇuá¹
yataḥ Å›Äntir yato 'bhayam
dharmaḥ sÄká¹£Äd yato jñÄnaá¹
vairÄgyaá¹ ca tad-anvitam
aiÅ›varyaá¹ cÄá¹£á¹adhÄ yasmÄd
yaÅ›aÅ› cÄtma-malÄpaham
munÄ«nÄá¹ nyasta-daṇá¸ÄnÄá¹
Å›ÄntÄnÄá¹ sama-cetasÄm
akiñcanÄnÄá¹ sÄdhÅ«nÄá¹
yam Ähuḥ paramÄá¹ gatim
sattvaá¹ yasya priyÄ mÅ«rtir
brÄhmaṇÄs tv iá¹£á¹a-devatÄḥ
bhajanty anÄÅ›iá¹£aḥ Å›ÄntÄ
yaá¹ vÄ nipuṇa-buddhayaḥ
tat - this; niÅ›amya - hearing; atha - then; munayaḥ - the sages; vismitÄḥ - amazed; mukta - freed; samÅ›ayÄḥ - from their doubts; bhÅ«yÄá¹sam - as the greatest; Å›raddadhuḥ - they put their faith; viṣṇum - in Lord Viṣṇu; yataḥ - from whom; Å›Äntiḥ - peace; yataḥ - from whom; abhayam - fearlessness; dharmaḥ - religion; sÄká¹£Ät - in its direct manifestations; yataḥ - from whom; jñÄnam - knowledge; vairÄgyam - detachment; ca - and; tat - it (knowledge); anvitam - including; aiÅ›varyam - the mystic power (gained by practice of yoga); ca - and; aá¹£á¹adhÄ - eightfold; yasmÄt - from whom; yaÅ›aḥ - His fame; ca - also; Ätma - of the mind; mala - the contamination; apaham - which eradicates; munÄ«nÄm - of the sages; nyasta - who have given up; daṇá¸ÄnÄm - violence; Å›ÄntÄnÄm - peaceful; sama - equipoised; cetasÄm - whose minds; akiñcanÄnÄm - selfless; sÄdhÅ«nÄm - saintly; yam - whom; Ähuḥ - they call; paramÄm - the supreme; gatim - destination; sattvam - the mode of goodness; yasya - whose; priyÄ - favorite; mÅ«rtiḥ - embodiment; brÄhmaṇÄḥ - brÄhmaṇas; tu - and; iá¹£á¹a - worshiped; devatÄḥ - deities; bhajanti - they worship; anÄÅ›iá¹£aḥ - without ulterior desires; Å›ÄntÄḥ - those who have attained spiritual peace; yam - whom; vÄ - indeed; nipuṇa - expert; buddhayaḥ - whose faculties of intelligence.
Amazed upon hearing Bhá¹›gu’s account, the sages were freed from all doubts and became convinced that Viṣṇu is the greatest Lord. From Him come peace; fearlessness; the essential principles of religion; detachment with knowledge; the eightfold powers of mystic yoga; and His glorification, which cleanses the mind of all impurities. He is known as the supreme destination for those who are peaceful and equipoised — the selfless, wise saints who have given up all violence. His most dear form is that of pure goodness, and the brÄhmaṇas are His worshipable deities. Persons of keen intellect who have attained spiritual peace worship Him without selfish motives.
By becoming devoted to the Personality of Godhead, one easily attains divine knowledge and detachment from sense gratification, without separate endeavor. As described in the Eleventh Canto of ÅšrÄ«mad BhÄgavatam (11.2.42):
bhaktiḥ pareÅ›Änubhavo viraktir
anyatra caiá¹£a trika eka-kÄlaḥ
prapadyamÄnasya yathÄÅ›nataḥ syus
tuá¹£á¹iḥ puá¹£á¹iḥ ká¹£ud-apÄyo ’nu-ghÄsam
“Devotion, direct experience of the Supreme Lord, and detachment from other things — these three occur simultaneously for one who has taken shelter of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, in the same way that pleasure, nourishment and relief from hunger come simultaneously and increasingly, with each bite, for a person engaged in eating.†Similarly, in the First Canto (1.2.7), ÅšrÄ«la Suta GosvÄmÄ« states:
vÄsudeve bhagavati
bhakti-yogaḥ prayojitaḥ
janayaty ÄÅ›u vairÄgyaá¹
jñÄnaá¹ ca yad ahaitukam
“By rendering devotional service unto the Personality of Godhead, ÅšrÄ« Kṛṣṇa, one immediately acquires causeless knowledge and detachment from the world.â€
Lord Śrī Kapila, in His instructions to His mother, Devahūti, proposes that the eightfold powers of yoga are also coincidental fruits of devotional service:
atho vibhÅ«tiá¹ mama mÄyÄvinas tÄm
aiÅ›varyam aá¹£á¹Äá¹…gam anupravá¹›ttam
Å›rÄ«yaá¹ bhÄgavatÄ«á¹ vÄspá¹›hayanti bhadrÄá¹
parasya me te ’śnuvate hi loke
“Because he is completely absorbed in thought of Me, My devotee does not desire even the highest benediction obtainable in the upper planetary systems, including Satyaloka. He does not desire the eight material perfections obtained from mystic yoga, nor does he desire to be elevated to the kingdom of God. Yet even without desiring them, My devotee enjoys, even in this life, all the offered benedictions.†(BhÄg. 3.25.37)
ÅšrÄ«la ViÅ›vanÄtha CakravartÄ« points out that in text 16, three kinds of transcendentalists are named: the munis, the Å›Äntas and the sÄdhus. These are, in order of increasing importance, persons striving for liberation, those who have attained liberation, and those who are engaged in pure devotional service to Lord Viṣṇu.
