Text 30] The Activities of the Pracetas 1525
asdv eva varo ’smakam
ipsito jagatah pate
prasanno bhagavan yesam
apavarga-gurur gatih

asau—that; eva—certainly; varah—benediction; asmakam—our; ipsitah—
desired; jagatah—of the universe; pate—O Lord; prasannah—satisfied;
bhagavan—the Supreme Personality of Godhead; yesam—with whom;
apavarga—of transcendental loving service; guruh—the teacher; gatih—the
ultimate goal of life.

TRANSLATION

O Lord of the universe, You are the actual teacher of the science of
devotional service. We are satisfied that Your Lordship is the ultimate
goal of our lives, and we pray that You will be satisfied with us. That is
our benediction. We do not desire anything other than Your full satisfac-
tion.

PURPORT

In this verse the words apavarga-gurur gatih are very significant. Accord-
ing to Srimad-Bhdgavatam, the Supreme Lord is the ultimate fact of the
Absolute Truth. Brahmeti paramatmeti bhagavan iti Sabdyate (Bhag.
1.2.11). The Absolute Truth is realized in three features—impersonal
Brahman, localized Paramatma and ultimately the Supreme Personality of
Godhead, Bhagavan. The word apavarga means liberation. Pavarga means
material existence. In material existence, one always works very hard but
is ultimately baffled. One then dies and has to accept another body to
work very hard again. This is the cycle of material existence. A pavarga
means just the opposite. Instead of working hard like cats and dogs, one
returns home, back to Godhead. Liberation begins with merging into the
Brahman effulgence of the Supreme Lord. This conception is held by the
jiidni-sampradaya, philosophical speculators, but realization of the Supreme
Personality of Godhead is higher. When a devotee understands that the
Lord is satisfied, liberation, or merging into the effulgence of the Lord, is
notvery difficult. One has to approach the Supreme Personality of Godhead
through the impersonal Brahman effulgence just as one has to approach
the sun through the sunshine. It is not very difficult to merge into the
impersonal effulgence of the Lord, Brahman, if one has satisfied the
Supreme Personality of Godhead.
