Text 8
ya eṣa evam anuśruto dhyāyamāno mumukṣūṇām anādi-kāla-karma-vāsanā-grathitam avidyāmayaṁ hṛdaya-granthiṁ sattva-rajas-tamomayam antar-hṛdayaṁ gata āśu nirbhinatti tasyānubhāvān bhagavān svāyambhuvo nāradaḥ saha tumburuṇā sabhāyāṁ brahmaṇaḥ saṁślokayām āsa.
yaḥ — who; eṣaḥ — this one; evam — thus; anuśrutaḥ — being heard from a bona fide spiritual master; dhyāyamānaḥ — being meditated upon; mumukṣūṇām — of persons desiring liberation from conditioned life; anādi — from immemorial; kāla — time; karma-vāsanā — by the desire for fruitive activities; grathitam — tied tightly; avidyā-mayam — consisting of the illusory energy; hṛdaya-granthim — the knot within the heart; sattva-rajaḥ-tamaḥ-mayam — made of the three modes of material nature; antaḥ-hṛdayam — in the core of the heart; gataḥ — situated; āśu — very soon; nirbhinatti — cuts; tasya — of Saṅkarṣaṇa; anubhāvān — the glories; bhagavān — the greatly powerful; svāyambhuvaḥ — the son of Lord Brahmā; nāradaḥ — the sage Nārada; saha — along with; tumburuṇā — the stringed instrument called a Tumburu; sabhāyām — in the assembly; brahmaṇaḥ — of Lord Brahmā; saṁślokayām āsa — described in verses.
If persons who are very serious about being liberated from material life hear the glories of Anantadeva from the mouth of a spiritual master in the chain of disciplic succession, and if they always meditate upon Saṅkarṣaṇa, the Lord enters the cores of their hearts, vanquishes all the dirty contamination of the material modes of nature, and cuts to pieces the hard knot within the heart, which has been tied tightly since time immemorial by the desire to dominate material nature through fruitive activities. Nārada Muni, the son of Lord Brahmā, always glorifies Anantadeva in his father’s assembly. There he sings blissful verses of his own composition, accompanied by his stringed instrument [or a celestial singer] known as Tumburu.
None of these descriptions of Lord Anantadeva are imaginary. They are all transcendentally blissful and full of actual knowledge. However, unless one hears them directly from a bona fide spiritual master in the line of disciplic succession, one cannot understand them. This knowledge is delivered to Nārada by Lord Brahmā, and the great saint Nārada, along with his companion, Tumburu, distributes it all over the universe. Sometimes the Supreme Personality of Godhead is described as Uttamaśloka, one who is praised by beautiful poetry. Nārada composes various poems to glorify Lord Ananta, and therefore the word saṁślokayām āsa (praised by selected poetry) is used in this verse.
The Vaiṣṇavas in the Gauḍīya-sampradāya belong to the disciplic succession stemming from Lord Brahmā. Lord Brahmā is the spiritual master of Nārada, Nārada is the spiritual master of Vyāsadeva, and Vyāsadeva wrote the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam as a commentary on the Vedānta-sūtra. Therefore all devotees in the Gauḍīyasampradāya accept the activities of Lord Ananta related in the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam as authentic, and they are thus benefited by going back home, back to Godhead. The contamination in the heart of a conditioned soul is like a huge accumulation of garbage created by the three modes of material nature, especially the modes of rajas (passion) and tamas (ignorance). This contamination becomes manifest in the form of lusty desires and greed for material possessions. As confirmed herein, unless one receives transcendental knowledge in disciplic succession, there is no question of his becoming purified of this contamination.