Text 41
maitreya uvāca
sa evaṁ brahma-putreṇa
kumāreṇātma-medhasā
darśitātma-gatiḥ samyak
praśasyovāca taṁ nṛpaḥ
maitreyaḥ uvāca — the great sage Maitreya said; saḥ — the King; evam — thus; brahma-putreṇa — by the son of Lord Brahmā; kumāreṇa — by one of the Kumāras; ātma-medhasā — well versed in spiritual knowledge; darśita — being shown; ātma-gatiḥ — spiritual advancement; samyak — completely; praśasya — worshiping; uvāca — said; tam — unto him; nṛpaḥ — the King.
The great sage Maitreya continued: Being thus enlightened in complete spiritual knowledge by the son of Brahmā — one of the Kumāras, who was complete in spiritual knowledge — the King worshiped them in the following words.
In this verse the word ātma-medhasā is commented upon by Śrīpāda Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura, who says that ātmani means “unto Lord Kṛṣṇa, paramātmani.” Lord Kṛṣṇa is Paramātmā: īśvaraḥ paramaḥ kṛṣṇaḥ (Brahma-saṁhitā 15.1). Therefore one whose mind is acting fully in Kṛṣṇa consciousness is called ātma-medhāḥ. This may be contrasted to the word gṛha-medhī, which refers to one whose brain is always engrossed with thoughts of material activities. The ātma-medhāḥ is always thinking of Kṛṣṇa’s activities in Kṛṣṇa consciousness. Since Sanat-kumāra, who was a son of Lord Brahmā, was fully Kṛṣṇa conscious, he could point out the path of spiritual advancement. The word ātma-gatiḥ refers to that path of activities by which one can make progress in understanding Kṛṣṇa.