tatraikÄvayavaáš dhyÄyed
avyucchinnena cetasÄ
mano nirviᚣayaáš yuktvÄ
tataḼ kiùcana na smaret
padaáš tat paramaáš viᚣášor
mano yatra prasÄŤdati
tatra - thereafter; eka - one by one; avayavam - limbs of the body; dhyÄyet - should be concentrated upon; avyucchinnena - without being deviated from the complete form; cetasÄ - by the mind; manaḼ - mind; nirviᚣayam - without being contaminated by sense objects; yuktvÄ - being dovetailed; tataḼ - after that; kiĂącana - anything; na - do not; smaret - think of; padam - personality; tat - that; paramam - Supreme; viᚣášoḼ - of Viᚣášu; manaḼ - the mind; yatra - whereupon; prasÄŤdati - becomes reconciled.
Foolish persons, bewildered by the external energy of Viᚣášu, do not know that the ultimate goal of the progressive search after happiness is to get in touch directly with Lord Viᚣášu, the Personality of Godhead. Viᚣášu-tattva is an unlimited expansion of different transcendental forms of the Personality of Godhead, and the supreme or original form of viᚣášu-tattva is Govinda, or Lord KášášŁáša, the supreme cause of all causes. Therefore, thinking of Viᚣášu or meditating upon the transcendental form of Viᚣášu, specifically upon Lord KášášŁáša, is the last word on the subject of meditation. This meditation may be begun from the lotus feet of the Lord. One should not, however, forget or be misled from the complete form of the Lord; thus one should practice thinking of the different parts of His transcendental body, one after another. Here in this verse, it is definitely assured that the Supreme Lord is not impersonal. He is a person, but His body is different from those of conditioned persons like us. Otherwise, meditation beginning from the praášava (oáškÄra) up to the limbs of the personal body of Viᚣášu would not have been recommended by Ĺukadeva GosvÄmÄŤ for the attainment of complete spiritual perfection. The Viᚣášu forms of worship in great temples of India are not, therefore, arrangements of idol worship, as they are wrongly interpreted to be by a class of men with a poor fund of knowledge; rather, they are different spiritual centers of meditation on the transcendental limbs of the body of Viᚣášu. The worshipable Deity in the temple of Viᚣášu is identical with Lord Viᚣášu by the inconceivable potency of the Lord. Therefore, a neophyteâs concentration or meditation upon the limbs of Viᚣášu in the temple, as contemplated in the revealed scriptures, is an easy opportunity for meditation for persons who are unable to sit down tightly at one place and then concentrate upon praášava (oáškÄra) or the limbs of the body of Viᚣášu, as recommended herein by Ĺukadeva GosvÄmÄŤ, the great authority. The common man can benefit more by meditating on the form of Viᚣášu in the temple than on the oáškÄra, the spiritual combination of a-u-m as explained before. There is no difference between oáškÄra and the forms of Viᚣášu, but persons unacquainted with the science of Absolute Truth try to create dissension by differentiating between the forms of Viᚣášu and that of oáškÄra. Here it is indicated that the Viᚣášu form is the ultimate goal of meditation, and as such it is better to concentrate upon the forms of Viᚣášu than on impersonal oáškÄra. The latter process is also more difficult than the former.