विदां मुनीनां परमं गुरुं वै ।
प्रष्टुं प्रवृत्तः किमिहारणं तत्
साक्षाद्धरिं ज्ञानकलावतीर्णम् ॥१९॥
ahaá¹ ca yogeÅ›varam Ätma-tattva-
vidÄá¹ munÄ«nÄá¹ paramaá¹ guruá¹ vai
praá¹£á¹uá¹ pravá¹›ttaḥ kim ihÄraṇaá¹ tat
sÄká¹£Äd dhariá¹ jñÄna-kalÄvatÄ«rṇam
aham - I; ca - and; yoga-Ä«Å›varam - the master of all mystic power; Ätma-tattva-vidÄm - of the learned scholars who are aware of the spiritual science; munÄ«nÄm - of such saintly persons; paramam - the best; gurum - the preceptor; vai - indeed; praá¹£á¹um - to inquire; pravá¹›ttaḥ - engaged; kim - what; iha - in this world; araṇam - the most secure shelter; tat - that which; sÄká¹£Ät harim - directly the Supreme Personality of Godhead; jñÄna-kalÄ-avatÄ«rṇam - who has descended as the incarnation of complete knowledge in His plenary portion known as Kapiladeva.
I consider your good self the most exalted master of mystic power. You know the spiritual science perfectly well. You are the most exalted of all learned sages, and you have descended for the benefit of all human society. You have come to give spiritual knowledge, and you are a direct representative of Kapiladeva, the incarnation of God and the plenary portion of knowledge. I am therefore asking you, O spiritual master, what is the most secure shelter in this world?
As Kṛṣṇa confirms in Bhagavad-gÄ«tÄ:
yoginÄm api sarveá¹£Äá¹
mad-gatenÄntarÄtmanÄ
Å›raddhÄvÄn bhajate yo mÄá¹
sa me yuktatamo mataḥ
“Of all yogīs, he who abides in Me with great faith, worshiping Me in transcendental loving service, is most intimately united with Me in yoga and is the highest of all.†(Bg. 6.47)
Jaá¸a Bharata was a perfect yogÄ«. He was formerly the emperor Bharata MahÄrÄja, and he was now the most exalted personality among learned sages and the master of all mystic powers. Although Jaá¸a Bharata was an ordinary living entity, he had inherited all the knowledge given by the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Kapiladeva. He could therefore be taken directly as the Supreme Personality of Godhead. As confirmed by ÅšrÄ«la ViÅ›vanÄtha CakravartÄ« ṬhÄkura in his stanzas to the spiritual master: sÄká¹£Äd-dharitvena samasta-Å›Ästraiḥ. An exalted personality like Jaá¸a Bharata is as good as the Supreme Personality of Godhead because he fully represents the Lord by giving knowledge to others. Jaá¸a Bharata is herein accepted as the direct representative of the Supreme Personality of Godhead because he was imparting knowledge on behalf of the Supreme Lord. Therefore MahÄrÄja RahÅ«gaṇa concluded that it was appropriate to ask him about Ätma-tattva, the spiritual science. Tad-vijñÄnÄrthaá¹ sa gurum evÄbhigacchet. This Vedic injunction is also confirmed herein. If anyone is at all interested in knowing the spiritual science (brahma jijñÄsÄ), he must approach a guru like Jaá¸a Bharata.
