yac-chauca-niḥsṛta-sarit-pravarodakena
tīrthena mūrdhny adhikṛtena śivaḥ śivo 'bhūt
dhyÄtur manaḥ-Å›amala-Å›aila-nisṛṣá¹a-vajraá¹
dhyÄyec ciraá¹ bhagavataÅ› caraṇÄravindam
yat - the Lord's lotus feet; Å›auca - washing; niḥsá¹›ta - gone forth; sarit-pravara - of the Ganges; udakena - by the water; tÄ«rthena - holy; mÅ«rdhni - on his head; adhiká¹›tena - borne; Å›ivaḥ - Lord Åšiva; Å›ivaḥ - auspicious; abhÅ«t - became; dhyÄtuḥ - of the meditator; manaḥ - in the mind; Å›amala-Å›aila - the mountain of sin; nisṛṣá¹a - hurled; vajram - thunderbolt; dhyÄyet - one should meditate; ciram - for a long time; bhagavataḥ - of the Lord; caraṇa-aravindam - on the lotus feet.
In this verse the position of Lord Åšiva is specifically mentioned. The impersonalist suggests that the Absolute Truth has no form and that one can therefore equally imagine the form of Viṣṇu or Lord Åšiva or the goddess DurgÄ or their son GaṇeÅ›a. But actually the Supreme Personality of Godhead is the supreme master of everyone. In the Caitanya-caritÄmá¹›ta (Ä€di 5.142) it is said, ekale īśvara kṛṣṇa, ara saba bhá¹›tya: the Supreme Lord is Kṛṣṇa, and everyone else, including Lord Åšiva and Lord BrahmÄ â€” not to mention other demigods — is a servant of Kṛṣṇa. The same principle is described here. Lord Åšiva is important because he is holding on his head the holy Ganges water, which has its origin in the foot-wash of Lord Viṣṇu. In the Hari-bhakti-vilÄsa, by SanÄtana GosvÄmÄ«, it is said that anyone who puts the Supreme Lord and the demigods, including Lord Åšiva and Lord BrahmÄ, on the same level, at once becomes a pÄá¹£aṇá¸Ä«, or atheist. We should never consider that the Supreme Lord Viṣṇu and the demigods are on an equal footing.
Another significant point of this verse is that the mind of the conditioned soul, on account of its association with the material energy from time immemorial, contains heaps of dirt in the form of desires to lord it over material nature. This dirt is like a mountain, but a mountain can be shattered when hit by a thunderbolt. Meditating on the lotus feet of the Lord acts like a thunderbolt on the mountain of dirt in the mind of the yogī. If a yogī wants to shatter the mountain of dirt in his mind, he should concentrate on the lotus feet of the Lord and not imagine something void or impersonal. Because the dirt has accumulated like a solid mountain, one must meditate on the lotus feet of the Lord for quite a long time. For one who is accustomed to thinking of the lotus feet of the Lord constantly, however, it is a different matter. The devotees are so fixed on the lotus feet of the Lord that they do not think of anything else. Those who practice the yoga system must meditate on the lotus feet of the Lord for a long time after following the regulative principles and thereby controlling the senses.
It is specifically mentioned here, bhagavataÅ› caraṇÄravindam: one has to think of the lotus feet of the Lord. The MÄyÄvÄdÄ«s imagine that one can think of the lotus feet of Lord Åšiva or Lord BrahmÄ or the goddess DurgÄ to achieve liberation, but this is not so. Bhagavataḥ is specifically mentioned. Bhagavataḥ means “of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Viṣṇu,†and no one else. Another significant phrase in this verse is Å›ivaḥ Å›ivo ’bhÅ«t. By his constitutional position, Lord Åšiva is always great and auspicious, but since he has accepted on his head the Ganges water, which emanated from the lotus feet of the Lord, he has become even more auspicious and important. The stress is on the lotus feet of the Lord. A relationship with the lotus feet of the Lord can even enhance the importance of Lord Åšiva, what to speak of other, ordinary living entities.