nirÄ«ká¹£atas tasya yayÄv aÅ›eá¹£a-
siddheÅ›varÄbhiá¹£á¹uta-siddha-mÄrgaḥ
Äkarṇayan patra-rathendra-paká¹£air
uccÄritaá¹ stomam udÄ«rṇa-sÄma
nirÄ«ká¹£ataḥ tasya - while he was looking on; yayau - He left; aÅ›eá¹£a - all; siddha-īśvara - by liberated souls; abhiá¹£á¹uta - is praised; siddha-mÄrgaḥ - the way to the spiritual world; Äkarṇayan - hearing; patra-ratha-indra - of Garuá¸a (king of birds); paká¹£aiḥ - by the wings; uccÄritam - vibrated; stomam - hymns; udÄ«rṇa-sÄma - forming the SÄma Veda.
In the Vedic literature it is stated that the two wings of the transcendental bird Garuá¸a, who carries the Lord everywhere, are two divisions of the SÄma Veda, known as bá¹›hat and rathÄntara. Garuá¸a works as the carrier of the Lord; therefore he is considered the transcendental prince of all carriers. With his two wings Garuá¸a began to vibrate the SÄma Veda, which is chanted by great sages to pacify the Lord. The Lord is worshiped by BrahmÄ, by Lord Åšiva, by Garuá¸a and other demigods with selected poems, and great sages worship Him with the hymns of Vedic literatures, such as the Upaniá¹£ads and SÄma Veda. These SÄma Veda utterances are automatically heard by the devotee when another great devotee of the Lord, Garuá¸a, flaps his wings.
It is clearly stated here that the sage Kardama began to look to the path by which the Lord was being carried to Vaikuṇá¹ha. It is thus confirmed that the Lord descends from His abode, Vaikuṇá¹ha, in the spiritual sky, and is carried by Garuá¸a. The path which leads to Vaikuṇá¹ha is not worshiped by the ordinary class of transcendentalists. Only those who are already liberated from material bondage can become devotees of the Lord. Those who are not liberated from material bondage cannot understand transcendental devotional service. In Bhagavad-gÄ«tÄ it is clearly stated, yatatÄm api siddhÄnÄm. There are many persons who are trying to attain perfection by striving for liberation from material bondage, and those who are actually liberated are called brahma-bhÅ«ta or siddha. Only the siddhas, or persons liberated from material bondage, can become devotees. This is also confirmed in Bhagavad-gÄ«tÄ: anyone who is engaged in Kṛṣṇa consciousness, or devotional service, is already liberated from the influence of the modes of material nature. Here it is also confirmed that the path of devotional service is worshiped by liberated persons, not the conditioned souls. The conditioned soul cannot understand the devotional service of the Lord. Kardama Muni was a liberated soul who saw the Supreme Lord in person, face to face. There was no doubt that he was liberated, and thus he could see Garuá¸a carrying the Lord on the way to Vaikuṇá¹ha and hear the flapping of his wings vibrating the sound of Hare Kṛṣṇa, the essence of the SÄma Veda.