TEXT 40
artha-lingaya nabhase
namo ntar-bahir-atmane
namah punyaya lokaya
amusmai bhuri-varcase
SYNONYMS
arthameaning; lingayarevealing; nabhaseunto the sky; namahoffering obeisances; antahwithin; bahihand without; atmaneunto the self; namahoffering obeisances; punyayapious activities; lokayafor creation; amusmaibeyond death; bhuri-varcasethe supreme effulgence.
TRANSLATION
My dear Lord, by expanding Your transcendental vibrations, You reveal the actual meaning of everything. You are the all-pervading sky within and without, and You are the ultimate goal of pious activities executed both within this material world and beyond it. I therefore offer my respectful obeisances again and again unto You.
PURPORT
Vedic evidence is called sabda-brahma. There are many things which are beyond the perception of our imperfect senses, yet the authoritative evidence of sound vibration is perfect. The Vedas are known as sabda-brahma because evidence taken from the Vedas constitutes the ultimate understanding. This is because sabda-brahma, or the Vedas, represents the Supreme Personality of Godhead. However, the real essence of sabda-brahma is the chanting of the Hare Krsna mantra. By vibrating this transcendental sound, the meaning of everything, both material and spiritual, is revealed. This Hare Krsna is nondifferent from the Personality of Godhead. The meaning of everything is received through the air through sound vibration. The vibration may be material or spiritual, but without sound vibration no one can understand the meaning of anything. In the Vedas it is said, antar bahis ca tat sarvam vyaya narayanah sthitah: Narayana is all-pervading, and He exists both within and without. This is also confirmed in Bhagavad-gita (13.34):
O son of Bharata, as the sun alone illuminates all this universe, so do the living entity and the Supersoul illuminate the entire body by consciousness.
In other words, the consciousness of both the soul and Supersoul is all-pervading; the limited consciousness of the living entity is pervading the entire material body, and the supreme consciousness of the Lord is pervading the entire universe. Because the soul is present within the body, consciousness pervades the entire body; similarly, because the supreme soul, or Krsna, is present within this universe, everything is working in order. Mayadhyaksena prakrtih suyate sa-caracaram: This material nature is working under My direction, O son of Kunti, and it is producing all moving and unmoving beings. (Bg. 9.10)
Lord Siva is therefore praying to the Personality of Godhead to be kind to us so that simply by chanting the Hare Krsna mantra we can understand everything in both the material and spiritual worlds. The word amusmai is significant in this regard because it indicates the best target one can aim for after attaining the higher planetary systems. Those who are engaged in fruitive activities (karmis) attain the higher planetary systems as a result of their past activities, and the jnanis, who seek unification or a monistic merging with the effulgence of the Supreme Lord, also attain their desired end, but in the ultimate issue, the devotees, who desire to personally associate with the Lord, are promoted to the Vaikunthalokas or Goloka Vrndavana. The Lord is described in Bhagavad-gita (10.12) as pavitram paramam, the supreme pure. This is also confirmed in this verse. Sukadeva Gosvami has stated that the cowherd boys who played with Lord Krsna were not ordinary living entities. Only after accumulating many pious activities in various births does one get the opportunity to personally associate with the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Since only the pure can reach Him, He is the supreme pure.

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