प्रचेतसोऽन्तरुदधौ पितुरादेशकारिणः ।
अपयज्ञेन तपसा पुरञ्जनमतोषयन् ॥३॥
maitreya uvÄca
pracetaso 'ntar udadhau
pitur ÄdeÅ›a-kÄriṇaḥ
japa-yajñena tapasÄ
purañjanam atoṣayan
maitreyaḥ uvÄca - Maitreya said; pracetasaḥ - the PracetÄs; antaḥ - within; udadhau - the sea; pituḥ - of their father; ÄdeÅ›a-kÄriṇaḥ - the order carriers; japa-yajñena - by chanting mantras; tapasÄ - under severe austerities; puram-janam - the Supreme Personality of Godhead; atoá¹£ayan - satisfied.
The great sage Maitreya said: The sons of King PrÄcÄ«nabarhi, known as the PracetÄs, underwent severe austerities within the seawater to carry out the order of their father. By chanting and repeating the mantras given by Lord Åšiva, they were able to satisfy Lord Viṣṇu, the Supreme Personality of Godhead.
One can offer prayers to the Supreme Personality of Godhead directly, but if one repeats the prayers offered by great devotees like Lord Åšiva and Lord BrahmÄ, or if one follows in the footsteps of great personalities, one can please the Supreme Personality of Godhead very easily. For instance, we sometimes chant this mantra of Brahma-saá¹hitÄ (5.29):
cintÄmaṇi-prakara-sadmasu kalpa-vá¹›ká¹£a-
laká¹£Ävá¹›teá¹£u surabhÄ«r abhipÄlayantam
laká¹£mÄ«-sahasra-Å›ata-sambhrama-sevyamÄnaá¹
govindam Ädi-puruá¹£aá¹ tam ahaá¹ bhajÄmi
“I worship Govinda, the primeval Lord, the first progenitor, who is tending the cows, yielding all desires, in abodes built with spiritual gems and surrounded by millions of purpose trees. He is always served with great reverence and affection by hundreds of thousands of laká¹£mÄ«s, or gopÄ«s.†Because this prayer was offered by Lord BrahmÄ, we follow him by reciting this prayer. That is the easiest way to satisfy the Supreme Personality of Godhead. The pure devotee never attempts to reach the Supreme Lord directly. The most important way to worship the Lord is to go through the disciplic succession of devotees. The prayers offered by Lord Åšiva to the Supreme Personality of Godhead were thus repeated by the PracetÄs, who were thus very successful in pleasing the Supreme Lord.
Here the Supreme Personality of Godhead is described as purañjana. According to MadhvÄcÄrya, the living entity is called purañjana because he has become an inhabitant of this material world, and under the influence of the three modes of material nature, he is forced to live within it. The Supreme Personality of Godhead creates this material world (pura), and He also enters within it. Aṇá¸Äntara-stha-paramÄṇu-cayÄntara-stham: the Lord enters within the heart of the living entity and within the atom. Therefore both the living entity and the Lord are called purañjana. One purañjana, the living entity, is subordinate to the supreme purañjana; therefore the duty of the subordinate purañjana is to satisfy the supreme purañjana. That is devotional service. Lord Rudra, or Lord Åšiva, is the original ÄcÄrya of the Vaiṣṇava sampradÄya called the Rudra sampradÄya. Rudra-gÄ«tena indicates that under the disciplic succession of Lord Rudra, the PracetÄs achieved spiritual success.
