mayy arpitÄtmanaḥ sabhya
nirapekṣasya sarvataḥ
mayÄtmanÄ sukhaá¹ yat tat
kutaḥ syÄd viá¹£ayÄtmanÄm
mayi - in Me; arpita - fixed; Ätmanaḥ - of one whose consciousness; sabhya - O learned Uddhava; nirapeká¹£asya - of one bereft of material desires; sarvataḥ - in all respects; mayÄ - with Me; ÄtmanÄ - with the Supreme Personality of Godhead or with one's own spiritual body; sukham - happiness; yat tat - such; kutaḥ - how; syÄt - could it be; viá¹£aya - in material sense gratification; ÄtmanÄm - of those who are attached.
O learned Uddhava, those who fix their consciousness on Me, giving up all material desires, share with Me a happiness that cannot possibly be experienced by those engaged in sense gratification.
The actual purport of Vedic knowledge is explained in this verse. The word viá¹£ayÄtmanÄm includes those who are cultivating material peace of mind, self-control and speculative philosophy. But even if such persons rise to the platform of sattva-guṇa, the mode of goodness, they do not attain perfection, because sattva-guṇa, being material, is also part and parcel of mÄyÄ, or illusion. As stated by ÅšrÄ« NÄrada Muni:
kiá¹ vÄ yogena sÄá¹…khyena
nyÄsa-svÄdhyÄyayor api
kiá¹ vÄ Å›reyobhir anyaiÅ› ca
na yatrÄtma-prado hariḥ
“The Supreme Personality of Godhead is not inclined to award Himself even to one who executes the yoga system, speculative philosophy, the renounced order of life or Vedic studies. Indeed, no so-called materially auspicious process can induce the Lord to reveal Himself.†(BhÄg. 4.31.12) According to ÅšrÄ«la ÅšrÄ«dhara SvÄmÄ«, one enjoys the happiness spoken of in this verse while associating, in one’s own spiritual body, with the supreme transcendental form of the Lord. The Lord’s transcendental form is filled with infinite, wonderful qualities, and the happiness of being with the Lord is unlimited. Unfortunately, materialistic people cannot possibly imagine such happiness, since they are not at all inclined to love the Supreme Personality of Godhead.
