Text 42
śrī-bhagavān uvāca
ity etad brahmaṇaḥ putrā
āśrutyātmānuśāsanam
sanandanam athānarcuḥ
siddhā jñātvātmano gatim
śrī-bhagavān uvāca — the Supreme Lord (Śrī Nārāyaṇa Ṛṣi) said; iti — thus; etat — this; brahmaṇaḥ — of Brahmā; putrāḥ — the sons; āśrutya — having heard; ātma — about the Self; anuśāsanam — instruction; sanandanam — the sage Sanandana; atha — then; ānarcuḥ — they worshiped; siddhāḥ — perfectly satisfied; jñātvā — understanding; ātmanaḥ — their own; gatim — ultimate destination.
The Supreme Lord, Śrī Nārāyaṇa Ṛṣi, said: Having heard these instructions about the Supreme Self, the Personality of Godhead, the sons of Brahmā now understood their final destination. They felt perfectly satisfied and honored Sanandana with their worship.
Śrīla Jīva Gosvāmī explains that ātmānuśāsanam can be understood both as instructions given to benefit the jīva souls and as instructions about the living entity’s relationship with the foundation of all existence. Similarly, ātmano gatim means both the destination of the jīva soul and the means of reaching the Supreme Soul. By hearing the twenty-eight prayers of the personified Vedas, which comprise the elucidation of the brahmopaniṣat spoken at the beginning of this chapter, the sages assembled in Brahmaloka made great progress toward their goal of pure love of God.